Home Hindutva

Islamophobia, Literature Hostile To Minorities At Event Launched By Union Minister At National Law School In Bhopal ( Article 14 )

Over the weekend, speakers spread Islamophobia, offered literature hostile to Muslims and Christians, and put up posters deriding academics and intellectuals on the campus of the National Law Institute University, Bhopal. The event, organised by a Bhopal-based group called Young Thinkers’ Forum and inaugurated by union minister Bhupender Yadav, was allowed even though many students pointed out it was against minorities, trans people and feminists. The vice chancellor said he did not ‘expect things to be like this’.

October 2, 2023

By Betwa Sharma

Delhi: “The most basic thing that we all know, Islamic philosophy is expressed very well through the azaan that you hear five times a day…Allah o Akbar, Allah o Akbar (God is the greatest). Which god? You will think of your god. No. Allah,” said a bearded speaker on the National Law Institute University (NLIU) campus in Bhopal on Saturday.

“This is what is said five times a day with a loudspeaker in thousands of places at the same time. The sound of it is nothing that brings any happiness,” the speaker said to cheers and applause from the audience.

Referring to the 13-century Muslim poet Amir Khusro and his famous poem on the Hindu festival of Holi, Aaj Rang Hai, Free bashed the line: “Gokul dekha Mathura dekha Par tosa na koi rang dekha (Nizamuddin)”.

(Free believes this means a preference of a Muslim site to Hindu ones—Nizamuddin is more beautiful than Gokul or Mathura).

“Why are you not saying Mecca ‘dekha’, Medina ‘dekha’,” he said referring to holy spots for Muslims, once again to applause.

The speaker, one Almosow Free, who said that he was not a “scholar” on Islam but a “student”, was speaking at the two-day event organised over the weekend by the Bhopal-based Young Thinkers’ Forum, inaugurated by Bhupender Yadav, the union minister for the environment, employment and labour, with S Surya Prakash, the vice-chancellor of the university, present.

There are 26 national law schools in India, as per Careers360.

Though many students protested, NLIU, a state government university recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC), permitted Islamophobic remarks, hate-filled literature about Muslims and Christians, and posters deriding academics and intellectuals, on the campus.

Protesting students said they tried attending the event, but there was a “menacing air” around the campus for the two days, and the organisers only let in students who had registered earlier. But they heard religious sloganeering from inside the auditorium.

A session called Unravelling Wokeism: Examining the DNA of Social Activism, most of which was leaked, was against feminists, transphobic and offensive to the LGBTQ community.

This story was originally published in article-14.com. Read the full story here