LUCKNOW: Amid the ongoing protests over his appointment and hurt by the unfounded stir, Professor Firoz Khan left for his native place in Jaipur on late Tuesday evening. While the BHU administration confirmed it, the authorities claimed that the appointment of Prof Khan stood effective and intact.
“The newly-appointed assistant professor will return as soon as the protests will stop and the situation on the campus will revert to normal,” said a senior member of BHU proctorial board.
Prof Firoz Khan was appointed as the assistant professor in the faculty of Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Vijnan (SVDV) of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU). He is supposed to teach Sanskrit literature to the students. His joining on November 5 triggered protests two days later on November 7. The protests are still continuing on the campus.
The protestors are claiming that the appointment of a non-Hindu teacher was against the tenets of the university set up by Mahamana Malviya. They are demanding the cancellation of Prof Khan’s appointment.
Late Tuesday evening, when the car of BHU vice-chancellor Prof Rakesh Bhatnagar was passing by the dharna venue, someone threw a water bottle and a stone at it. Both, however, didn’t hit the car. The university PRO confirmed it.
Shubham Tiwari, a research scholar at SVDV while talking to media persons said that the dharna would end only after the demand of protestors would be accepted. “We only want Dr Firoz Khan to be shifted to some other faculty,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has extended its support to the protesting students.
Dean faculty of SVDV Prof VP Mishra appealed the agitating students to end their stir. Mishra wrote them a letter after holding a meeting with the VC.
The VC, however, is firm on the fact that all rules and regulations had been strictly followed to select Dr Firoz.
In another protest, a group of students under ABVP staged a demonstration in the BHU over the alleged blackening of a portrait of Veer Savarkar installed in the department of political science.