Minorities Commission Wakes up to Demand Protection for Ujjain Professor

NEW DELHI: The National Commission for Minorities that has not said a word about the continuing hate speech and attacks on minorities in different parts of the country, has finally woken up to write to the Madhya Pradesh Governor asking for protection for the Vikram University Vice Chancellor in Ujjain.

The VC Professor Jawahar Lal Kaul was badly beaten by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal members for just asking the students to help the flood hit people of Jammu and Kashmir. The militant ‘students’ attacked him and the Professor had to be rushed to hospital.

NCM Chairperson Naseem Ahmad in his letter said the Commission was “shocked and dismayed” that “some people are feeling empowered enough” to attack the head of an academic institution. “The reason for this attack was the Vice Chancellor’s purported expression of compassion for students from J&K with an appeal to landlords to show leniency towards rent recovery. The state of J&K is in the midst of a massive tragedy and students are barely able to communicate with their families. The VC is to be lauded in anticipating the problems of students at his University and making a humanitarian appeal,” Ahmad said.

He has asked the Governor to provide sufficient protection for the terrified VC and also “order an enquiry into the incident and to make sure that those held guilty are punished.”

The state police claim to have arrested 13 VHP and Bajrang Dal members. Eight years ago in the same Ujjain district, Professor HS Sabharwal who was teaching at the time in Madhav college (affiliated to Vikram University) was brutally attacked by ABVP and Bajrang Dal men and killed. Six were arrested, but later all were acquitted.