Dr Feroz Khan quits SVDV faculty; BHU students end month-long protest
Banaras Hindu University (BHU) students ended their month-long protest on Tuesday after Dr Feroz Khan resigned from the Faculty of Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Vigyan as an assistant professor. Khan, who was facing protests for his appointment as an assistant professor at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), has joined the Sanskrit department of Arts faculty at the University.
According to the spokesperson of BHU, Rajesh Kumar Singh, he must have resigned from the SVDV faculty before joining BHU's Arts faculty.
With this, Students of BHU who were protesting against Khan's appointment into the Sanskrit department have concluded their month-long protest. The appointment of Feroz Khan to the department as the assistant professor had sent students on protests for the past one month.
Students' protest against Khan's appointment came on the ground that a Muslim cannot teach Hindu religious texts, which the department's syllabus includes.
Earlier, there were 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 had appeared in interviews held by the two departments, on November 29 and on December 4. Meanwhile, no classes were held in the Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Vigyan department since November 8, the day after Khan's appointment.
The former faculty body of the Sanskrit department had also written a letter to the President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pointing out that the appointment of Dr Feroz Khan as an assistant professor in the department was not in accordance with the rules.
They raised their concerns that if the students will be educated under a non-Hindu, the doors of employment and religious practices by Hindu organisations would be forever closed for these students. They have pointed out it may also lead to trouble in the future employment of such students at various Hindu temples.
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