By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net
Ranchi: Hurt by the derogatory language used about Prophet Muhammad in a question paper for final-year students of post-graduation at Ranchi University, hundreds of students took out a march and ransacked vice-chancellor’s office on 1st May.
Sensing the trouble the university administration called in police. The police lathicharged the agitating people, in which several people were injured. The police arrested some demonstrators who were later released.
Giving details about the incident to TwoCircles.net on phone from Ranchi, Shariq Ansar, state president, Students Islamic Organization of India (SIO), said in the history paper for PG students on 30th April, a question on the life of the Prophet had used very insulting language. The question said the Prophet began his life as a trader and ended as a raider. The students, however, finished their paper peacefully in all colleges under the university, said Ansar, but as soon as tension wore thick and the news reached Vice-Chancellor A.A. Khan, he took the decision to cancel the paper.
By the next day (1st May), particularly after the police lathicharge, tension had gripped the entire city. Making efforts to defuse the tension, Ranchi University Students Union called a meeting of all student organizations on the day. SIO was represented by Shariq Ansar. They prepared a memorandum and sought appointment from Governor Syed Sibte Razi to put the case before him. The governor immediately agreed to meet the delegation.
The 15-member delegation that included Ansar, urged the governor to disband the board that prepared questions and suspend the examination controller of the university. They also demanded immediate release of the detained demonstrators. Within a couple of hours, the arrested people were released.
Sensing the seriousness of the issue, Chief Minister Madhu Koda called in VC and asked him to constitute an enquiry into how derogatory language against the Prophet was used in the paper. He asked the university administration to punish the guilty people.
To press their demand to dismantle the university board, the students organizations staged a sit-in at the university campus today. Succumbing to the pressure from the students, the VC announced the dismantling of the board.