NEW DELHI: A senior professor at Meerut College has been barred for life from all examination and evaluation work by Chaudhary Charan Singh University after setting a Political Science exam paper with questions deemed ‘objectionable’ by officials and students linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The action against Professor Seema Panwar, head of the Political Science department at the government-run college, was taken following protests by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the RSS. The protests erupted on Friday, just two days after the exam was conducted.
The controversy centres around a question in the second semester Political Science paper held on April 2, which allegedly linked the RSS to the rise in religious and caste-based politics. The RSS was also mentioned in the same question alongside organisations such as the Naxalites and the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front.
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“She has been debarred from all examinations and evaluation work in the university for life,” said Dhirendra Kumar Verma, registrar of Chaudhary Charan Singh University. He confirmed that an internal inquiry had identified Panwar as the paper setter.
According to Verma, Panwar has submitted a written apology. “She has apologised in writing that she did not do this intentionally to hurt anyone,” he told PTI.
ABVP members staged a protest on campus and handed over a memorandum to the registrar, demanding strict action over the inclusion of the RSS’s name in such a context.
(With inputs from agency)
