Muzaffarnagar Riot Accused Made Member of AMU Court

NEW DELHI: A Member of Parliament accused for inciting communal violence in Muzaffarnagar in 2013, and another MP in the news for supporting the ‘ghar wapsi’ campaign in Aligarh are two of the five new members elected to the Court of the Aligarh Muslim University.

Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament from the Bijnore Lok Sabha constituency Bharatendra Singh was accused of of violating prohibitory orders and provoking communal tension with inflammatory speeches during the controversial panchayat meetings that sparked off the violence in Muzaffarnagar in October 2013. He was arrested and later released on bail. He has been elected at the instance of the government to the AMU Court. The Muzaffarnagar violence had claimed 65 lives and displaced lakhs of terrified villagers at the time.

BJP MP from Aligarh Gautam Kumar had been in the forefront of the ‘ghar wapsi’ program declared by the RSS and its front organisations to convert 5000 Muslims and Christians to Hinduism on Christmas Day.This was called off after loud protests from the Opposition in Parliament but not before Kumar had announced his decision to preside over the so called conversion ceremony along with controversial colleague from Gorakhpur Yogi Adityanath.

The decision by the Human Resources Development Ministry to make these controversial appointments is being opposed by scholars and academics. Several have written a letter to President Pranab Mukherjee against the appointment of Bharatendra Singh. Pointing out that the Court is the top decision making authority of the University, the letter has urged the President to intervene and ensure the decision is reversed. And that noted academicians and experts are instead appointed to the Court.

The other members elected to the Court include Chaudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser (Khagaria), Mohammad Badaruddoza Khan (Murshidabad), Bhola Singh (Bulandshahr) and Rajveer Singh (Etah). Rajveer is the son of former UP chief minister and Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh. The six MPs have been appointed for three years, or until they remain members of the Lok Sabha whichever is earlier.

Interestingly AMU had spearheaded a fund collection drive for the victims of the Muzaffarnagar violence. The money has been put aside by the Vice Chancellor for starting a chain of Sir Syed schools, the first to be set up in Muzaffarnagar giving preference to children of the affected families. The AMU Teachers Association has also protested the appointments. The Court has 190 members of which six are from the Lok Sabha and four from the Rajya Sabha. Currently only two RS MPs are members, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and KN Balagopal. The Court oversees all top AMU appointments, and is the most influential and powerful body of the University.