Protesting students of Aligarh Muslim University have alleged that the newly-appointed Dean of Students’ Welfare, Mujahid Baig, has threatened them to call off their sit-in protest.
In a video shared by students, in response to a question that a student lost his hand during the police action, Prof. Baig could be heard saying, “ Allah ka shukr ada karo ki kisi ki maut nahin huyi. (You should thank god that nobody lost his life.)”
Meet with students
The incident happened on Wednesday when the Vice-Chancellor, along with his core team, went to meet the medical students who were boycotting classes and exams demanding the resignation of the V-C and the Registrar for calling police inside the campus on December 15.
“In the midst of the interaction, Prof. Baig said that we should be thankful that a student only lost his hand and that nobody lost his life. He said this in the presence of the V-C and heads of different faculties of the medical college,” said Adnan Ziya, a student of medicine, who was present during the meeting.
“Prof. Baig’s tone was threatening. The interaction was with the V-C, who called in the police. But he would often pass on the mic to the DSW to answer questions addressed to the V-C,” said Mr. Adnan.
According to local sources, Prof. Baig, Chairman, Department of Medicine, is known to be a “tough” character and has been the Proctor in the past.
An official spokesperson admitted that Prof. Baig did say certain things that should not have been said to students.
“However, his intention was not to threaten anybody. He was referring to some past instances which were even more tragic,” he said.
‘Aggressive attitude’
Faizul Hasan, former president of AMU Students’ Union, said, “Prof. Baig talks of the presence of anti-social elements on campus but himself talks like one. We have put his effigy at the protest site,” he said, demanding the district administration take note of his “aggressive attitude” towards students.
