Teachers association and students from DU and JNU are planning to stage a protest on Wednesday outside the venue of the ‘Management Conclave’ at Shri Ram College of Commerce, which has invited Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as the key speaker.





While principal P C Jain said students will benefit from Modi’s lecture on development, protesting students and teachers are of the view that the ‘Godhra genocide’ under his rule and his alleged involvement in it are reasons enough to boycott his entry in a secular varsity.



“SRCC is an academic institution and not a political syndicate or a business house. Why should the college invite a controversial politician who is notorious for his communal politicking?” said



Federation of Central Universities Teachers’ Association (FEDCUTA) member S D Siddique.

Condemning the principal’s statement, Siddique said, “This statement to say the least is not only deplorable but also displays a lack of academic mindset as well as a highly questionable approach as head of an academic institution of higher learning.”



FEDCUTA members have asked the authorities to rethink on the decision of inviting Modi.



‘Blasphemous’ essay



Students protesting against inviting Modi cited examples of the university bowing to ‘Hindu fundamentalism’ when A K Ramanujan’s essay Three Hundred Ramayanas was scrapped from the history syllabus, under pressure from rightwing groups, which called it “blasphemous”.



“What happened in Godhra was systematic cleansing of a community. What developments are we talking about in Gujarat when an entire community lives in refugee camps in horrible conditions?” said an Economics Honours student of Hindu College.

“Despite committing mass murders, Modi is still roaming scot free. That shows our legal and political system have no backbone,”said the student.



“The truth is out and we still want to live in denial. Modi and his likes have only created communal hatred and in the university such people should not be allowed,” the student added.

