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A Jamia Millia Islamia professor has been suspended after an exam question asking students to discuss atrocities against Muslim minorities sparked backlash online. The university termed it negligence and ordered an inquiry with an FIR. Student groups, including SFI, condemned the move, calling it an assault on academic freedom and critical inquiry.

A professor at Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) has been suspended for holding controversial questions in an exam that has caused widespread debate and outrage on social media platforms. The incident took place in a first-semester examination for the BA (Hons) Social Work programme in the paper named 'Social Problems in India.' The 15-mark question being asked in this paper included “discuss the atrocities against Muslim minorities in India, giving suitable examples.” This caused widespread outrage on social media platforms and prompted complaints to prompt action against the concerned faculty member.

The professor has been identified as Virendra Balaji Shahare from the Department of Social Work. He has been put under suspension by the university authority, and the issue has been labelled a serious case of “negligence and carelessness.” The suspension notice, issued by the officiating registrar, states that the professor will remain stationed in New Delhi during the inquiry and must not leave without permission from the competent authority.

The official order reads, "In this matter, on the instruction of the competent authority, the paper setter Prof. Virendra Balaji Shahare, Department of Social Work, JMI is placed under suspension till further orders and Police FIR will be filed as per rules."

Students support the professor

Student bodies, headed by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) unit at Jamia Millia Islamia, have been condemning the suspension of Prof.Virendra Balaji Shahare, terming it an unjust and alarming attack on academic freedom. In their press note, the SFI criticised the university management for muffling dissenting voices and compromising academic integrity by suspending the professor over an “examination question” titled Social Problems in India.

The official press release reads, "If Jamia, a beacon of intellectual resistance, succumbs to this ideological clampdown, who will defend the right to critical inquiry? We stand unwaveringly with Professor Shahare, whose courage resists the creeping influence of oppressive ideologies in our institutions. This suspension isn’t just a punitive act; it’s a threat to Jamia’s core values of debate and dissent. We will not allow Jamia to become an RSS outpost."