University of Jammu professor suspended after calling Bhagat Singh a 'terrorist'; students agitate and demand resignation

A senior political science professor from the University of Jammu, Mohammad Tajuddin, was suspended on Friday after he referred to freedom fighter Bhagat Singh as a terrorist during a lecture. [caption id=“attachment_5646081” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Professor Mohammad Tajuddin, who came under fire on Friday for calling Bhagat Singh a ’terrorist’. ANI[/caption] The incident came to light after a video clip of the episode recorded by a student went viral on the social media on Thursday. Agitated students lodged a complaint with university authorities, and accused him of hurting sentiments. They have also demanded his resignation. According to India Today, Tajuddin has been suspended by the university. “We have demanded the resignation of professor Tajuddin. Our voice is being suppressed by the authorities. If Bhagat Singh was a terrorist, who is the hero, Zakir Musa?” News18 quoted one of the students as saying. As a report from The Tribune, Vinay Thusoo, the official spokesperson of the university, said that the university’s vice-cnacellor, Manoj K Dhar, had constituted a high-level committee headed by the senior-most professor of the university, to look into the complaint. “The 6-member committee will look into the entire incident. Let’s wait for the outcome of the inquiry committee and based on that, we’ll take further action,” he told ANI. Tajuddin responded to the allegations made against him and told ANI: “I also consider Bhagat Singh a revolutionary. He is one of the people who sacrificed their lives for the country.” “I was teaching Lenin (Russian revolutionary) and made the comment about Singh in that context. I said that the state calls any violence against it ’terrorism’. Someone took a 25- second clip out of my two-hour lecture. ‘Terrorist’ came in that, and it was not what I meant. Still, if anyone is hurt, I’m really sorry for it,” he told the news agency.