A senior professor at Meerut College has been banned for life from all examination and evaluation duties by Chaudhary Charan Singh University (CCSU) after a political science exam paper included a question deemed “objectionable” by members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its student wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
The professor, Dr. Seema Panwar, who heads the Political Science department at the government-run college, was identified as the setter of the controversial second-semester exam held on April 2. The exam paper reportedly featured a question linking the RSS to the rise of religious and caste-based politics, and mentioned the organisation in the same line as Naxalites and the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).
“She has been debarred from all examinations and evaluation work in the university for life,” said Dhirendra Kumar Verma, registrar of CCSU. “An internal inquiry confirmed her authorship of the question paper.”
The action was taken within hours of a campus protest by ABVP members on April 5. The group submitted a memorandum to the registrar, demanding immediate punishment and accusing Panwar of maligning a “patriotic organisation.”
According to officials, Panwar submitted a written apology, stating she did not intend to offend anyone. “She has apologised in writing that she did not do this intentionally to hurt anyone,” Verma told the news agency PTI.
However, academics and civil rights groups are raising serious concerns about the decision, calling it an assault on academic freedom.
This story was originally published in theobserverpost.com. Read the full story here.
