The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) has demanded the reinstatement of the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) professor who was suspended allegedly for setting a question on atrocities against Muslims in the BA (Hons.) Social Work semester examination.

“Questioning and debating, and differences in perspectives, are integral to academics,” the JNUTA said in a statement issued on Wednesday night, adding that the question was “perfectly legitimate” in a paper dealing with social problems in India.

The JMI administration issued an order on December 23 suspending the professor until an inquiry committee submits a report. According to university officials, action was taken after social media denounced the question, calling it “polarising and communal”.

‘Academic witch-hunt’

The JNUTA described JMI’s action as an “academic witch-hunt”.

The association said, “The JNUTA demands a stop to what can be described as the beginning of an academic witch-hunt that can only sound the death knell of an institution of higher learning.”

“The extension of a disagreement or difference of opinion to the point of policing academic thought to suit this or that narrative goes fundamentally against the spirit of such questioning and debate, and no university can remain a university if it indulges in such practices,” it added.