New Delhi: The Jamia Millia Islamia University has suspended a professor following a controversy over a question paper on or BA (Hons) social work semester-1. The university not only placed Professor Virendra Balaji Shahare under suspension, but also issued a notice.

The professor was suspended on Tuesday

The university took the action on Tuesday after the anger spread over a question for the paper on "Social Problems in India". The question that lead to controversy was "Discuss the atrocities against Muslim minorities in India, giving suitable examples."

The copy of the question paper was later uploaded on social media, triggering protests. In its notice, the university said it suspended Professor Virendra Balaji Shahare, with "immediate effect." It said that a "police FIR will be filed as per rules".

What notice said?

"Jamia Millia Islamia has taken a serious view of the negligence and carelessness on the part of Prof Virendra Balaji Shahare, Department of Social Work," the notice said. "During the suspension period, the headquarters of Prof Virendra Balaji Shahare will be New Delhi, and he shall not leave the headquarters without prior permission of the Competent Authority," it added.

Social media users slam the university

"Jamia Millia Islamia is a Central University with a mixed student community. The question shows malicious intent," a post said on X. Another observed that the question framed by the user was "extremely provocative and communally polarising". "This is how the vulture ecosystem operates, deliberately creating polarising academic narratives to suit their own agendas, "a user wrote.

Notably, the university is located in the southeast part of New Delhi. It was established in 1920 in Aligarh as a non-governmental institution and went on to become a central university in 1988 through an Act of Parliament. It was in 2011 that Jamia Millia Islamia was recognised as a Muslim minority educational institution.