Bengaluru: A day after a video of a Muslim student being called "Kasab" by a professor went viral and took the internet by storm about the causal Islamophobia that has set in the country, Karnataka Education Minister BC Nagesh joined him with the same sentiments while speaking to the media.
"Almost everyone everyday uses words like Ravan, Shakuni. Even in Assembly many times, we have spoken like this. It does not become an issue. When you speak about Kasab it becomes an issue," he said about the Manipal University professor's jibe at one his students by calling him "Kasab."
The teacher was referring to the convicted terrorist who was arrested after the 26/11 Mumbai terror incident in 2008 and was subsequently hanged in 2012. Though the Minister said that the teacher should not have indulged in such a jibe, he said that it is the season of 'politics' and he is just 'conforming' to his vote bank.
Also read: 'Will you call your son a terrorist?'
In the viral video, the student strongly objected to the teacher's remark saying that such jokes are "unacceptable". "You can't joke about my religion that too in such a manner," the student said to which the teacher, in a bid to calm him down said, "you are just like my kid." To this, the student argued, "If my father spoke to me like this I would have disowned him."
The teacher tried to douse the flames saying that he was speaking in a light-hearted tone. However, this infuriated the student who responded by saying "No Sir, it's not funny. 26/11 was not funny. Islamic terrorism is not funny. Being a Muslim in this country and facing this every day is not funny. Will you call your son a terrorist? How can you call me that? That too in front of so many people. You are a professor. You are teaching?"
The teacher apologized but the agitated student said "just saying sorry does not change how you think or how you portray yourself." Meanwhile, the University has condemned the incident and suspended the teacher.
Karnataka will be going to polls in 2023. The state has been the hotbed of political polarization based on religious binaries be it the 'hijab' issue that was making the headlines in the beginning of the year or the bus stops at Mysuru which were revamped this Saturday because it resembled that of a mosque with three domes on its top.
