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Updated on: November 8, 2019, 5:47 PM IST

November 8, 2019, 5:47 PM IST FOLLOW US ON: Facebook Twitter Instagram

New Delhi: The appointment of a Muslim assistant professor in the Sanskrit faculty has irked a group of students at the Banaras Hindu University, allegedly because of his identity. The students are now demanding the removal of the professor.

The students started protesting against the appointment on Thursday at the Holkar Bhawan near the residence of the Vice Chancellor Rakesh Bhatnagar and played. The professor, Feroz Khan, was appointed as an assistant professor in the literature department of the faculty of Sanskrit Vidya Dharm Vigyan (SVDV) of the BHU.


The protesting students had also written to the VC saying that the varsity’s founder, late Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, considered the Sanskrit faculty as the heart of the University.

“The stone plate of the faculty also contains that this institution is for cultural, religious, historical debates and discussion of Sanatan Hindus and their direct or indirect branches like Arya Samaj, Buddh, Jain, Sikh, etc,” the students said in the letter.


The students termed the appointment as a 'conspiracy' and said the a 'non-Hindu' was selected despite knowing all the facts and said it is against the soul and spirit of the institution.

“There was an appointment meeting and some students created disruptions at the time of meeting for faculty recruitment. They were protesting against the appointment of a Muslim. The meeting took place on November 5, 2019 and the appointment was done on the basis of the potential of the candidate,” BHU spokesperson Rajesh Singh said.


“The University does not stand for discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, gender. For the progress of the nation it believes in providing equal opportunities of education to all,” he further said.

(With inputs from agencies)