BHU was set up to protect Indian culture: CUSB VC

GAYA: Central University of South Bihar (CUSB) vice-chancellor (VC) Harish Chand Singh Rawat on Monday said the popular perception that Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya had established Banaras Hindu University (BHU) to counter the establishment of a madrassa in Aligarh by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, is not factually correct.
“Malviya established BHU to project and protect Indian culture and academic traditions,” Rawat said while speaking at a function organised in Gaya’s Dharam Sabha Bhawan to celebrate the birth anniversary of India’s first president Rajendra Prasad.
Rawat recalled that a former VC of BHU, an Allahabad University alumnus, once made an bizarre comparison between the two universities and bragged about Allahabad University being academically much superior to BHU. To buttress his point, the VC, according to Rawat said whereas Allahabad University produced PMs and top bureaucrats, BHU can claim no such credit. However, he did not name the VC.
“No British money had gone into the BHU’s making,” said Rawat, adding, “Allahabad and other universities were established to cater to the administrative requirements of the British. BHU was established to protect and preserve Indian culture. BHU produced creative people and not babus.”
Rawat spoke more about BHU than Rajendra Prasad. He regretted that Prasad was marginalised. He recalled that as a school student he read the life of Rajendra Prasad but now Prasad has been pushed out of school text books.