Dalit prof’s name struck off award list

LUCKNOW:A dalit professor in Lucknow University Ravi Kant has been stripped off a proposed award that was to be conferred on him by Rajya Karamchari Sahitya Sansthan, UP on March 17, on account of an ‘objectionable post’ on social media.

Kant had reportedly taken a jibe on PM Narendra Modi washing feet of sanitary workers and credited the Pak PM for safe return of Wing Commander Abhinandan to India. He had also mocked saffron-clad youths who attacked Kashmiri men in Lucknow recently.

Kant said the literary body decided to cancel his name from the award list for posting objectionale comments against the BJP-led government at the Centre and the state on his Facebook page. The dalit assistant professor was nominated for the Raman Lal Agarwal Prize given annually by the Rajya Karmachari Sahitya Sansthan. He was to get the award on March 17. But on March 6, a letter informed him that the committee had revoked its earlier decision to confer him the award as one Shailendra Singh, chief managing director of Human and Animal Crime Control organisation objected to his FB posts. Kant said, “I have no idea why they revoked the decision.”

Ex-CM Akhilesh Yadav tweeted: BJP’s assault on dalits continues unabated. Today Prof Ravi Kant of Lucknow University was stripped off a state-sponsored award for having anti-BJP views. This is the true face of their so-called ‘nationalism’.