BHU: Controversy erupts over Allama Iqbal's photo

A webinar was organized on the occasion of Urdu Day by the Department of Urdu of the Banaras Hindu University. The students expressed their displeasure over the disappearance of the picture of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya on the invitation card of the program and complained about it.

Banaras (Bihar): A controversy erupted on Tuesday at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) over the celebration of Urdu day. The centre of the controversy is said to be a picture of renowned poet Allama Iqbal on the invitation card for a webinar scheduled on the day.

The issue, that arose after some people objected to the absence of the picture of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, founder of BHU, has now taken a political turn.

A group of university students has handed over a memorandum to the dean of the Arts department, demanding action in this regard. Students say if action is not taken they will be forced to protest. The University has already apologized for the growing controversy and has put a picture of Madan Mohan Malviya on the invitation card.

The protesting students said that the picture of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya was replaced with the picture of Allama Iqbal in the webinar program of the Urdu department of the University. The alleged incident led to some students getting angry who later started protesting.

The Dean of the art department, Vijay Bahadur, has expressed regret over the protracted issue. On the other hand, the President of the Urdu Department, Aftab Ahmed, was directed to appear before the committee on Tuesday to reply.

Students say that if any seminar is held in Banaras Hindu University, it is mentioned on the university's website, however, the seminar held in the Urdu department was not mentioned on the university's website.

The students further said that they took the matter to the Dean of the Faculty of Arts who denied knowledge of any such program. Taking note of the whole matter, the students formed a team.

It should be noted that on the occasion of Urdu Day, a webinar was organized by Aftab Ahmed, President of the Department of Urdu of the Banaras Hindu University. The students expressed their displeasure over the disappearance of the picture of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya on the invitation card of the program and complained about it.

As soon as Dean came to know about it, he took notice and talked to Ahmed. Ahmed called it a mistake and immediately apologized for the whole affair.

Although BHU's art department has issued an apology on social media for the matter, the BJP is demanding action against the culprits.

In an interview with ETV Bharat, BJP district president Hans Raj Vishwakarma took issue with the whole matter and said that the party strongly condemned the whole incident. He appealed to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to take notice of the issue and take action against the culprits.