Students of CM Law College, Bihar started a Twitter storm with #UrduLikhoCMLawCollege after the college administration removed an Urdu signboard from the college's entrance. The students have accused the administration of succumbing to the pressure by the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad for removing the board.
This has resulted in Muslim students from across the region joining the Twitter protest. Students from prominent minority institutions like the Aligarh Muslim University raised their voice. "This is a result of communalising even the simplest things and equating the Urdu language with Islam. This is quite unfortunate," says Maskoor Ahmed Usmani, former AMUSU President. He says that the signboard was removed two days ago when the country was still under lockdown. "I hail from the same town and have always seen an Urdu signboard. I really do not get the logic behind removing it now," he says. The protestors also said that Urdu is considered the second official language of Bihar.
The ABVP, on the other hand, appreciated the administration for removing the signboard. "We have been asking the college administration to do this for quite some time. Let them have a signboard in English or Hindi, but what is the whole point of having one in Urdu?" asks Laxmi Kumar, ABVP Bihar State Secretary. "The principal of the college was quite welcoming to our demands, despite being a Muslim," she says.
We tried contacting the college's principal for a comment on the same. This copy will be updated once he responds.
