A university in Madhya Pradesh, Vikram University, has set up a probe panel following complaints of a few students that a professor was propagating Islam and harassing Hindu students, a senior varsity official said today, June 24. The professor has denied the allegations and said he will present his side before the probe committee, as stated in a report by PTI.
A dispute had started after a few members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) accused the university's guest professor Anis Sheikh of sharing material related to the propagation of Islam on WhatsApp and harassing students of the Hindu community. With regards to this, the ABVP members also staged a protest on the university campus on Friday, June 21.
Speaking about this today, June 24, Vikram University's Vice-Chancellor Akhilesh Pandey said that after receiving a complaint from students, a committee has been constituted for the probe, looking at the seriousness of the issue. "The committee will submit its report in 15 days," he said.
"Sheikh, the guest professor at the Institute of Pharmacy in the university, has been asked not to come to the department during the probe period," the VC said.
WhatsApp group
Sheikh told PTI that he had nothing to do with the WhatsApp group and the chat. "It is the WhatsApp group of the department and the HoD (head of the department) is its admin. I have nothing to do with the chat. It was a year-old chat which was related to Ramzan greetings and was posted by a student," Sheikh said.
Further, he said only three to four students belong to the minority community among 60 students in his class. Sheikh also claimed he was being pressured and his image was being maligned. "I will present my side before the probe committee. The allegations against me are baseless," he said.
ABVP's Ujjain Mahanagar Secretary Adarsh Choudhary told PTI that complaints against Sheikh had been coming in for a long time. He was awarding more marks to students of a particular community while harassing students of the Hindu community by giving them poor grades, Choudhary alleged.
The ABVP office-bearer claimed his organisation has in its possession a screenshot related to a post on the institute's WhatsApp group about propagating Islam, a chat related to Roza, Ramzan and the benefits of performing Namaz. A Muslim student even offered Namaz in a classroom, he claimed. "We have given a memorandum over all such things to the vice-chancellor," he added, as stated in a report by PTI.
