When students fought for a Muslim prof of Vedas

at BHU have been protesting since November 7 demanding Khan’s removal or transfer. According to them, a Muslim professor cannot do justice to the job.

Ali, now 72, doesn’t remember any discrimination or misbehaviour by fellow teachers or students in a department dominated for years by Brahmins and Thakurs. Sure, there was one incident when a fellow teacher made some communal remarks (after he started sporting the skull cap) but mostly “they accepted me for my knowledge”, Ali said.

Ali topped both his BA and MA exams in Sanskrit in 1969 and 1971 . He then completed a

PHD on a comparative study of Vedic and Islamic myths under the then head of department, Atul Chandra Banerjee, who also played a key role in his appointment.

Ali retired as head of department (HOD) in 2010, the only Muslim professor to hold the highest departmental post.

Expressing his displeasure over the treatment being meted out to Firoze Khan, he said: “Such things never happened in our times. Despite being a Muslim, I continued to excel in Sanskrit and went on to become the head of a department that was full of Brahmins.”

He recalls how a group of Hindu students laid siege to Banerjee’s office to protest against the preference given to two Hindu teachers over him when it came to promotion to a regular teacher position in 1979. They ensured his appointment as a regular teacher. His heads of department, for their part, made sure classes didn’t clash with his prayers. Commenting on Ali, the current head of the department Murli Manohar Pathak said: “He was so hard working that during his days of studies in the university he would come by a cycle, pedalling over 30 km daily from neighbouring Maharajganj, his home. He was a gentleman.”

And a scholar.

President’s Rule was imposed in Maharashtra on November 12 amid a stalemate over the government formation after the assembly polls last month.

The Sena, which contested last month’s state elections in a pre-poll alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), walked out of the partnership over the BJP’S refusal to let a Shiv Sena leader occupy the chief minister’s chair on a rotational basis.

T h e S e n a h a s 6 4 MLAS (including 8 Independents) in the 288-member assembly and is hoping to cross the majority mark of 145 with support of 54 NCP lawmakers and 44 Congress MLAS.

While the Sena has repeatedly insisted that discussions on coalition are on track, eyebrows were raised when Pawar, after meeting Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on Monday, appeared to indicate that the Ncp-congress combine was not in any great hurry to seal the pact.

The next day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi heaped praises on Sharad Pawar’s NCP for maintaining decorum in Parliament and not trooping into the Well of the House. While the PM di d not name Pawar i n hi s speech, he followed up on his praise, tagging Sharad Pawar in a tweet where he repeated this point.

Meanwhile, amid NCP-CONgress, the Shiv Sena has called a meeting of all its MLAS and seni o r l e a d e r s i n Mumbai o n November 22, a party leader said.

Thackeray will address the meeting which is expected to deliberate on the party’s line of action in the backdrop of the three main non-bjp parties making efforts to form government in Maharashtra.