Lucknow Professor Heckled Over Comments On Varanasi Temple-Mosque Issue

An associate professor of Hindi at Lucknow University was heckled today by members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's student wing ABVP over his comments on the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque controversy in a debate hosted on a social media platform.

Visuals from the university showed students raising slogans against professor Ravi Kant Chandan and demanding action against him for the comments.

A video shared on social media purportedly showed students shouting, "Desh ke gaddaron ko...goli maaro s***** ko (shoot dead traitors)" - a controversial slogan raised on the past by BJP supporters and even a Union Minister.

In the debate, Ravi Kant had quoted a story from a book called "Feathers and Stones" by Pattabhi Sitaramayya, an independence activist and political leader from Andhra Pradesh, about why Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi was demolished by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

The professor said he could not corroborate the story independently, adding the story in the book described a rape that took place inside the temple complex when Aurangzeb was passing through Varanasi.

"He has a communist mindset and this is a disease. He used his post to comment on Hindu traditions. He commented about Kashi Vishwanath temple yesterday. What is this mentality that tries to divide society?" a student leader from ABVP was filmed saying during the protest at Lucknow University.

Another ABVP leader, Pranav Kant Singh, said they want the professor to be sacked. "Such a person spreads poison in society and we will certainly not allow that," the student leader said.

The Lucknow Police and the university administration intervened and kept the protesters and the professor separate. Later, the authorities started talks between the professor and the ABVP students.

In a video statement, Kant said his voice was being suppressed because he is a Dalit.

"I made a statement quoting a story from a book about how the mosque came to be constructed in Varanasi. That statement and the reference to the book was edited out and a clip shared suggesting I was hurting Hindu sentiments. I had no such intention. I was merely referring to a story, not even a factual account," the professor said.

"Despite this, students of the ABVP and outsiders came here and raised objectionable slogans. With the help of police, I spoke to the students and asked them to see the whole clip and expressed regret if anyone's sentiments were hurt. I did post the incident on Facebook. I am a Dalit and follow the values of Baba Saheb's Constitution and I feel my voice is being suppressed, being from this community," the professor said in the statement.

Petitions by five women asking to be allowed to pray to Hindu deities in a shrine behind Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi is building up into a new flashpoint in Uttar Pradesh.

The women want unrestricted, year-long access to the site of Maa Shringar Gauri, at the back of the mosque's western wall. The site is currently opened once a year for rituals and prayers. The women also want permission to pray to other "visible and invisible deities within the old temple complex".

Both Kashi Viswanath temple and Gyanvapi mosque are located next to each other.