Banaras Hindu University on Thursday defended the decision by its Vice-Chancellor (V-C) to attend an iftar party at a college after some elements objected to it, saying it amounted to Muslim appeasement.
Sudhir K. Jain, on Wednesday, attended an iftar organised in the Mahila Mahavidyalaya (MMV) on the invitation of students and faculty members. Other senior officials of the university were present.
Following this, some students, purportedly from the university, took out a march and burnt the effigy of the V-C. They raised slogans accusing the V-C of beginning a trend of Muslim appeasement.
The BHU, however, stated that the tradition of organising iftar in the university dated back to more than two decades. These iftars were attended by the vice-chancellors over the years in their capacity as the head of the BHU fraternity, said a university spokesperson.
“Attempts to disturb the peace and academic atmosphere of Banaras Hindu University are unacceptable and condemnable,” the BHU spokesperson said. The university stressed that the university was an “inclusive space, which is globally renowned for its teaching, research and innovation”. Students from all around the world came to the BHU and studied in an all-inclusive atmosphere, where there was no scope of any form of discrimination on any basis, the university said.
A number of festivals were organised and celebrated in the university with members of the fraternity participating in them with mutual love, respect and harmony, the university said.
