ABVP accuses six Indore law teachers of promoting fundamentalism, temporarily suspended

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) accused six teachers at a government-run law college here, including four Muslims, of promoting fundamentalism and “negative thoughts” about the government and Army.

The college principal announced on Thursday that these teachers would be absent from class for five days while a judicial investigation into the allegations of the RSS-affiliated student union is conducted. On Thursday, activists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSSstudent )’s wing, the ABVP, raised a ruckus on the campus of Shasakiya Navin Vidhi Mahavidyalay (Government New Law College), demanding action against four Muslim and two Hindu teachers.

Dipendra Thakur, the college’s ABVP unit head, claimed in a complaint to principal Dr Inamur Rahman that some teachers encouraged “religious fundamentalism and negative thoughts about the government and the Army” among first-year students.

On Fridays, the principal, Muslim teachers, and students offer namaaz, and classes are not held, he claims.

The complaint went on to say that “love jihad” and “non-vegetarianism” were being promoted on campus.

Love Jihad is a term used by right-wing Hindu groups to describe a “conspiracy” to marry off Hindu girls and convert them to Islam.

According to Principal Rahman, the atmosphere at the college was not as described in the complaint.

“Because the ABVP’s complaint is serious, I have decided that an investigation should be conducted by a retired district court judge,” he told reporters.

To ensure that the investigation is conducted fairly, the six teachers accused have been suspended for five days, he said.

Concerning the two Hindu teachers among them, he stated that the ABVP has accused them of acting autocratically and not communicating properly with students.