The students of SVDV, which is the Dharma Vigyan department of Banaras Hindu University are protesting the appointment of one Dr Firoze Khan in the Dharma Vigyan department. The protests escalated today after the students burnt effigies of Vice-Chancellor of BHU. Rakesh Bhatnagar is currently VC of BHU. Hundreds of students congregated to burn the effigy of the Vice-Chancellor. Among then, were Mrityunjay Tiwari Azad, Abhishek Singh, Abhishek Tripathi, Avanindra Rai, Dilip Moriya, Alok Singh, Praveen Singh and Anshuman Dwivedi.

The protests were earlier limited to the Dharma Vigyan Faculty and the appointment of Dr Firoz Khan. However, now, the protests have made its way to several other departments. Students of several departments are not alleging that incorrect appointments have been made by the Vice-Chancellor and those must be investigated as well. The students are now alleging that the controversial appointment of Dr Firoze Khan in the Dharma Vigyan department was done by the VC to brush under the carpet and distract people from several other improper appointments.

Read: BHU protests: SVDV professors, former professor and Acharyas of Vishwanath Mandir support students, here is what they say

The BHU protests that are now in its third week have finally reached the highest echelons of power. Now, the Prime Minister himself has taken note of the issue and a report has been sent to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The PMO asked for a report from the BHU administration and Divisional Officer Deepak Aggarwal sent the report to the PMO despite being on a foreign tour.

- Advertisement -

Now the administration is preparing a detailed report, which will be sent to the Prime Minister’s Office. The students have alleged that attempts are being made to discredit the university by making unqualified appointments in several departments.

On Thursday (November 21, 2019), Swami Avimukteshwaranand extended his support to the Dharma Vigyan students of BHU. He also addressed the students during the ongoing protests outside the residence of VC Rakesh Bhatnagar. He said that non-Hindus should not be appointed in the department of Malaviya ji established for Hindus.

Read: How the BHU students were demonised and the ones who refused to be ‘secularised’ unfairly called ‘bigots’

He said that reading and experiencing the words are two different things. Shankaracharya also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling the appointment of Firoz Khan contrary to the values of religion.

Yesterday, the students presented a set of questions to the administration and have demanded answers. The students of the Dharma Vigyan department are protesting against the appointment of Dr Firoz Khan to teach Dharma Vigyan. While Khan is a professor of Sanskrit, he has been employed in the Dharma Vigyan department and not in the Arts department that teaches Sanskrit as a linguistic endeavour. The Dharma Vigyan department is a course for religious learning and Hindu Dharma.