Vashi Sharma, a faculty at the prestigious Indian Institute Of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K), has written to the institute that he is concerned for his safety as several media houses are running a “hate campaign” against him and running “fake stories” about him.

Sharma has been profiled by several publications since Swarajya published a report last month that he, along with 15 students, complained to the institute that in a 17 December event in the campus, “communal” and “anti-India” statements were made.

Sharma had objected to recitation of a poem titled ‘Hum Dekhenge’ by Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Some lines in the poem, he alleged, calls for removal of all idols and only Allah’s name to remain.

“I couldn’t imagine that a lawful and peaceful complaint to you about an unlawful activity in the campus could lead to such helpless situation for me. They are running fake stories, pictures, posts about me all over (sic),” says the letter by Sharma, dated 4 January and addressed to the institute director Abhay Karandikar and deputy director Manindra Agarwal.

In the complaint, Sharma attached a screenshot from a show aired on NDTV news channel where, as per him, his face, office address and other personal details were made public.

He told Swarajya that his social media accounts are being bombarded with abuses and death threats.