BHU prof resigns, joins another dept

was appointed after qualifying on the basis of merit, could not teach in the faculty of SVDV due to protest by a handful of students. BHU administration didn’t take any action against the protesting students. It appeared that the BHU administration surrendered before them.”

Denying the allegation, BHU’S chief proctor professor OP Rai said there was no question of the varsity surrendering before students as Khan resigned from the SVDV faculty on his own. “Dr Firoz applied for assistant professor in three departments of three different faculties (the third being the department of Sanskrit and Samhita in Ayurveda faculty). He was selected in all three on the basis of his performance in interview, eligibility and merit. Finally, he chose to teach in the department of Sanskrit in faculty of Arts.”

Despite repeated attempts, Khan could not be reached for comment.

The protesting students hailed Khan’s resignation from SVDV and called off their stir after the head of department of Sahitya, Professor Umakant Chaturvedi, produced a proof of Khan’s resignation from the faculty.

Anand Mohan Jha, a student, said, “We have won. Our protest has yielded desired results. That is why we have ended our protest.”

Chaturvedi refused to comment on the issue.

A native of Rajasthan, Khan was appointed assistant professor in the SVDV department on November 6 following which a group of students began a protest campaign, which included sitins and signature campaigns, against the move.

Although the BHU backed Khan, insisting his appointment has been made on the basis of qualification, he was unable to take classes amid the protests.

Amid the stir, Khan appeared for interviews in the other two faculties and topped the list of applicants.

Three other candidates, who were selected for the post of assistant professor in the interview, have joined along with Khan in the faculty of arts, a professor said.