Students continue protest against UPPSC
The uproar over the decision of Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) on the competitive examination schedule by the students continued for the second day here on Tuesday.
Professor Feroz Khan whose appointment to Banaras Hindu University’s Sanskrit Vidhya Dharma faculty, led to protests by students after they claimed a non-Hindu could not teach the subject, has resigned from the faculty and will teach Sanskrit at a different department of the same institution.
A Sanskrit professor at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi was allegedly attacked by students for supporting his Muslim colleague, whose appointment to the department as the assistant professor had sent students on protests since the past one month.
The Dalit professor is a senior faculty member in the Sanskrit Vidya Dharam Vigyan (SVDV) department where Feroz Khan has been appointed.
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“I was sitting in a classroom when some students barged in and started abusing me in foul language. They asked me to stop supporting a Muslim’s appointment to the faculty,” Professor Shanti Lal Salvi told reporters.
Khan’s resignation is seen as a compromise between BHU administration and protesting students. The move comes after a month-long sit-in protest by students who said a non-Hindu professor could not teach because the faculty intertwined the study of religion and literature.
According to NDTV, BHU administration has confirmed Professor Firoze Khan’s transfer, he has shifted to the Sanskrit department of the Arts faculty, where only the language is taught, Sanskrit is taught at three faculties in the university. The administration has claimed Professor Khan was interviewed by all three and had now chosen to quit Vidya Dharma and teach at the Arts faculty.
“Professor Khan has resigned from here. He has expressed an interest in joining another wing in the university that teaches Sanskrit. He gave his resignation yesterday (Monday) evening,” Professor Kaushalendra Pandey, who accepted the resignation, was quoted by NDTV.
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