Student 'Attacks' Lucknow University Professor a Week After Temple Remark

The postgraduate student has been arrested for breach of peace.

Lucknow University professor Ravi Kant said that he was attacked by a student on Wednesday. 

(Twitter)

Lucknow University Professor Ravi Kant, who came under the scanner for his comments on the Kashi Vishwanath temple, said that he was attacked by a student inside the campus on Wednesday. The student has been arrested for breach of peace.

Ravi Kant said that the student, one Karthik Pandey, started hurling abuses at him while he was going to take a class. He added that the student made casteist slurs. He also alleged that the incident was a continuation of the 10 May incident when he was booked for controversial comments.

FIR Against Student

The police took Pandey in custody later. An FIR was filed against him under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the police also invoked the SC/ST act against him.

The postgraduate student was a member of the Samajwadi Party Chhatra Sabha’s Lucknow University unit. The party said that it has expelled him. Meanwhile, the university suspended him and formed a committee to probe the matter.

Pandey claimed that the professor started abusing him, after which he had no option but to fight.

The Lucknow University Teachers Association condemned the attack against their colleague, saying that it was an attack on the teacher community.

What Had Happened Earlier?

Ravi Kant, a professor of the Hindi Department of Lucknow University (LU) was booked on 10 May, for allegedly making controversial remarks on the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque issue during a YouTube debate.

On the same day, hundreds of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists staged a protest on campus and demanded an apology.

The professor has written to the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, blaming Professor Vibhuti Rai from the Geology department for instigating the ABVP activists. In the letter, he told the NHRC that the activists tried to kill him over his remarks.

(Sources: The Indian Express and Hindustan Times)