The Dalit professor is a senior faculty member in the Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Vigyan (SVDV) department where Khan has been appointed

VARANASI: A Sanskrit professor at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) here has been allegedly attacked by students for supporting his Muslim colleague, Feroz Khan, whose appointment to the department as assistant professor had sent students on protests since the past one month.

The Dalit professor is a senior faculty member in the Sanskrit Vidya Dharam Vigyan (SVDV) department where Khan has been appointed.

“I was sitting in a classroom when some students barged in and started abusing me in foul language. They asked me to stop supporting a Muslim’s appointment to the faculty. I felt unsafe and came out. Some of the students then hurled stones at me and later caught up with me and shoved and pushed me. I could escape because a stranger gave me a lift on his scooter,” Professor Shanti Lal Salvi told reporters here, following the Monday’s incident.

Salvi alleged a colleague had instigated the students but would not name him before the media.

“I have complained to Vice-Chancellor Rakesh Bhatnagar against a professor of the department and some students,” he said.

A student, who was a part of the group that had accosted Salvi, said they had only asked the professor to stop supporting Khan and never attacked him.

Some students of the Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Sankay department have been protesting Khan’s appointment on the ground that a Muslim cannot teach Hindu religious texts, which the department’s syllabus includes.

There has been speculation that Khan may be shifted to the department of Samhita and Sanskrit, part of the university’s faculty of Ayurveda, or the Sanskrit department of the arts faculty as a compromise.

He has appeared in interviews held by the two departments, on November 29 and on December 4.

Meanwhile, no classes have been held in the Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Vigyan department since November 8, the day after Khan’s appointment.

Chief proctor O.P. Rai met the student protesters on Monday and said Khan’s appointment would soon be discussed at the executive council of the university.

The semester examinations have also been postponed due to protests. “The next date of the semester examination in the department will be announced soon.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in Lok Sabha and said that it is not even 0.001 per cent against minorities in the country.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill on Monday cleared the first test in the Lok Sabha, with 293 members voting in favour of the bill’s introduction and 82 against it.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the contentious Bill in the Lok Sabha and said that it is not even 0.001 per cent against the minorities in the country.

“This Bill is not even 0.001 per cent against minorities in the country,” Shah said in the House, amid much uproar by the opposition.

“Why do we need this Bill today? After independence, if Congress had not done partition on the basis on religion,then, today we would have not needed this Bill. Congress did partition on the basis of religion,” Shah commented while taking potshots at the opposition party.

“If any Muslim from these three (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh) nations applies for citizenship according to our law, then we will consider it, but the person won’t get the benefit of this amendment as the person has not faced religious persecution,” he further said.

“Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Parsis and Jains have been discriminated against. So this bill will give these persecuted people citizenship. Also, the allegation that this bill will take away the rights of Muslims is wrong,” Shah said.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.

Through this bill, Indian citizenship will be provided to the members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from the three countries to India till December 31, 2014, to put an end to them being treated as illegal immigrants in the country.

It is important to note that the Bill was passed by the Lower House of the Parliament earlier this year but lapsed with the term of the previous Lok Sabha during the first term of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government in the Centre. 

Katra, which serves as the base camp for pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi Shrine in Reasi district of Jammu region, recorded a low of 8.2 degrees Celsius.

SRI NAGAR: Srinagar recorded the coldest night of the season as severe cold conditions continued unabated in most parts of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on Sunday, an official of the Met department said.

At a low of minus 26 degrees Celsius, Drass in Kargil district of Ladakh was the coldest recorded place, while the minimum temperature in Jammu fell two degrees below the season’s average to settle at 8 degrees Celsius, the official said.

The night temperature, however, is likely to improve in the coming days under the influence of Western Disturbance which is likely to hit the region on Wednesday, bringing another spell of snow and rains.
The residents of Srinagar woke up to a dense fog and chilly conditions on Sunday with further drop in the night temperature which was 3.4 degrees below normal during this part of the season, resulting in freezing of fringes of the famous Dal Lake as well as drinking water taps in different residential areas of the city.
This year the wintery conditions engulfed the region early following moderate to heavy snowfall — first of the season — on November 7.

Drass, the second coldest inhabited place in the world, recorded a minimum of minus 26 degrees Celsius against the previous night’s 25.4 degrees Celsius, while the nearby Leh town, also in Ladakh, was reeling at a minimum of 16 degrees Celsius, the official said.ADVERTISING

Pahalgam hill resort in south Kashmir was the coldest recorded place in the Valley with a low of minus 6.3 degrees Celsius followed by the famous ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir at minus 5.6 degrees Celsius, the official said.

Katra, which serves as the base camp for pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi Shrine in Reasi district of Jammu region, recorded a low of 8.2 degrees Celsius.

Flights cancelled for second straight day
Flight operations at Srinagar airport remained suspended for the second consecutive day as all flights were cancelled on Sunday due to dense fog causing poor visibility in the Kashmir valley, officials said. “All flights at Srinagar airport were cancelled on Sunday and no flight operations took place,” an Airport Authority of India (AAI) official said. The official said 28 flights, including those for the armed forces, were scheduled at the airport for Sunday. The airlines took the decision owing to very poor visibility, officials said.

The students said that teacher threatens them that he will fail them in the examination and they will have to bear “severe consequences” had they not fulfilled his illicit demands.

JASHPUR (Chhattisgarh): A teacher here has been accused of seeking sexual favours from girl students and chicken from other students in lieu of passing them in examinations.

The students said that teacher threatens them that he will fail them in the examination and they will have to bear “severe consequences” had they not fulfilled his illicit demands.

“He said that I have to cater to his physical needs. He was asking for a sexual favour from me. He also asked for chicken,” said a girl student.

“He said that I will have to bring chicken for him. Otherwise, the consequences would be not good for me. He also used to drop messages to me on my mobile, saying why I didn’t talk to him,” said another girl student.

“He said that he will let us copy in the examination of History if we cater to his undue demands,” said a group of girl students of Class XII.

While the teacher, when reached, denied the claim and said that he used to entertain students.

“I said nothing like that. Sometimes I just used to entertain students. That’s all,” said Bhardwaj.

Meanwhile, the District Education Officer (DEO) said that he will take strict action in the matter.

“The matter has come to my notice. I will seek a report on it. I will take action against the teacher at the earliest. The matter is very serious,” said N Kujur, DEO. 

The 27-year-old lured the girl under the pretext of playing with her and showing cartoons on television in his house and raped her.

NASHIK: A seven-year-old girl was raped on Sunday allegedly by her 27-year-old neighbour in Nashik in Maharashtra, police said.

The accused, identified as Kailas Kokani, was beaten up by angry locals in Ambad locality and handed over to police, an official said.

Kokani lured the girl under the pretext of playing with her and showing cartoons on television in his house. He then allegedly sexually assaulted her in afternoon.

The family of the girl shifted to Mahalaxmi Nagar area in Ambad only recently, the official added.

“When the girl’s mother started looking for her, she knocked on Kokani’s door to ask him whether he knew about her whereabouts. However, he didn’t open the door. His neighbours then forced him open the door and found the girl inside,” he said.

Local people then thrashed Konkani and handed him over to Ambad police who are registered a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the official said.