A post-graduate college teacher in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow was suspended for allegedly mobilising people to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act on campus, Hindustan Times reported on Thursday. This came after a student was expelled for calling for protests in another Lucknow university.
The first matter was reported from Shia Post Graduate College, where the administration suspended contractual faculty member Robin Verma after he was arrested by Lucknow police and sent to jail in connection with the protests against the amended citizenship law. Verma was among 285 protestors who took part in the anti-Citizenship Act demonstrations on December 19.
A copy of the suspension order was sent to the regional higher education officer in Lucknow, the registrar, the Lucknow University, district magistrate and the senior superintendent of police.
College manager S Abbas Murtaza Samshi said Verma was suspended based on media reports, adding that a three-member committee will get records from the district administration.
The college management said Verma was a faculty in International Business in the Bachelors of Business Administration. “We are not aware of his conduct outside college premises,” Principal Talat Hussain Naqvi said. “We will take appropriate action after receiving documents from district administration about the nature of the unlawful act in which he was involved.”
On Sunday, Ahmed Raza Khan of Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti Urdu Arabi Farsi University was expelled for sharing a post on social media calling for a protest against the new citizenship law and the National Register of Citizens exercise, The Indian Express reported.
Tannu Dang, a member of the university’s media committee, said Khan had called for a protest to be held on Tuesday. “He was rusticated on December 22,” Dang said. “He had called for a protest through Facebook even though Section 144 is in place in the state. He had also incited students to protest against the university administration earlier this month over the running of the university mess. Though the administration addressed students’ grievances, Khan kept inciting them”.
The university is run by the state government and has more than 2,000 students. Khan is a third-year History honours student.
The Facebook post of Khan said people will not allow the disintegration of the country. “We will not let our shared culture disappear; we will oppose the religion-based bill tooth and nail,” it added.
Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens have engulfed India in the past two weeks. The protests saw peaceful marches as well as intense clashes between the police and the demonstrators. At least 24 people have died so far, including 17 in Uttar Pradesh alone.
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