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<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe varsity has initiated an inquiry against the professor and DUTA has called the question ‘one-sided’. Meanwhile, a student group of Jamia Millia Islamia has asked for the revocation of the suspension order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Gates of Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Photo: Wikimedia<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Delhi\u2019s Jamia Millia Islamia has suspended a faculty member from its department of social work after the university received complaints about a question on atrocities against Muslims in India in an end-of-semester examination paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an order dated December 23, the university stated that it received several complaints regarding the paper set by Professor Virendra Balaji Shahare. Titled \u2018Social Problems in India\u2019, it was set for the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Social Work, Semester I, of the 2025-26 academic session.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the questions in the paper asked students to \u201cdiscuss the atrocities against Muslim minorities in India, giving suitable examples.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hindutva organisations and their supporters raised a kerfuffle over this on social media. However, several students have expressed solidarity with the professor, highlighting the degrading state of democratic autonomy of educational institutions in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Circled in the picture is the question in an examination paper of\u00a0B.A. (Hons) in Social Work, Semester I,\u00a0that has stirred a row at Jamia Millia Islamia. Photo: By arrangement<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad\u2019s Jawaharlal Nehru University unit issued a statement questioning the appropriateness of the question and alleging ideological bias. It also linked the question to the alleged violence against Hindus in neighbouring Bangladesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several other posts of right-wing supporters have termed the question as \u201cprovocative\u201d<\/a> and \u201ccommunally polarising\u201d, with some of them highlighting how the varsity is funded by \u201ctax money\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Advertisement<\/p>\n\n\n\n Soon after the complaints, Jamia\u2019s registrar’s office issued an order stating that the university had taken \u201cserious view on the negligence and carelessness on the part of Prof. Virendra Balaji Shahare\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn this matter, on the instruction of the competent authority, the paper setter Prof. Virendra Balaji Shahare, Department of Social Work, JMI, is placed under suspension till further orders, and Police FIR will be filed as per rules,\u201d the order stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the suspension letter seen by PTI, the vice-chancellor, acting under Statute 37(1) of the Statutes of the University, has ordered that Shahare be placed under suspension with immediate effect pending an inquiry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Delhi University Teachers\u2019 Association (DUTA), which also circulated the question paper, has described it as a matter of \u201cserious concern\u201d and alleged that the question promoted a \u201cone-sided\u201d narrative in a centrally-funded university, The Times of India<\/em> reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DUTA has called for an immediate review of the question paper and the syllabus, and urged the Union education ministry as well as the University Grants Commission to take note of the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, the Fraternity Movement, a student group of Jamia Millia Islamia, has asked for the revocation<\/a> of the suspension order, stating that Shahare is a professor \u201cwith an extensive and distinguished academic career\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The group pointed out that the question in contention \u201cis explicitly located within the prescribed syllabus under Unit II, Social Problems and Social Work Intervention, sub-topic (c): Atrocities against women, children, SC, ST and minorities\u201d and therefore \u201cconstitutes legitimate syllabus-based academic assessment and does not deviate from approved curricular content.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The suspension order, the group said, \u201crepresents an unprecedented and disproportionate response to a purely academic exercise conducted strictly within the framework of the syllabus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Advertisement<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJamia Millia Islamia, a university that emerged during the freedom struggle and holds minority status granted on the basis of Islam, has historically been a centre for critical thought, social engagement, and academic courage. The present suspension stands in sharp contradiction to this legacy,\u201d the statement added, expressing solidarity with the professor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also read: Watch | What Does it Feel Like to Be a Muslim in Modi\u2019s India?<\/a><\/ins><\/p>\n\n\n\n Over the last decade, there has been a rise in incidents of atrocities against Muslims in India. Earlier this month, a cloth vendor in Bihar\u2019s Nawada district was robbed, assaulted and branded<\/a> with a hot iron. He later succumbed to his injuries. There have also been a number of incidents where \u2018cow protectors\u2019 have killed Muslims over allegations of cattle smuggling<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In November this year, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released an India-specific issue update<\/a> that pointed to the systemic religious persecution in India and claimed \u201cthe implementation of national and state-level laws create severe restrictions on religious freedom across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It particularly highlighted that the \u201cinterconnected relationship\u201d between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the RSS, which it describes as a \u201cHindu nationalist group,\u201d has led to \u201ccreation and enforcement of several discriminatory pieces of legislation, including citizenship, anti-conversion, and cow slaughter laws.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the report, hundreds of Christians and Muslims have been arrested under anti-conversion laws, with 70% of India\u2019s inmates being pre-trial detainees and religious minorities disproportionately represented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n