Ghaziabad College: Two Teachers Suspended for Asking Student to Leave Stage Over Jai Shri Ram Slogan
21 October 2023 | The Wire
Screengrab from viral video showing the student and faculty member in question from ABES Engineering College, Ghaziabad. Photo: X
New Delhi: Two faculty members of an engineering college from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh have been suspended for asking a student to step down from the stage after he greeted the audience during a student induction ceremony with a loud ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan.
Over the years, the religious slogan has gained political connotations with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other Hindutva outfits raising it at their events and rallies. On various occasions in the college and university premises, the BJP’s student wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), has raised such slogans for political reasons.
A video clip showing a teacher asking the student to step down from the stage on October 20 was circulated widely on X (formerly Twitter), prompting various Hindutva outfits to express outrage at the teachers’ action. Soon, another video clip, featuring a different faculty member warning students that no programme would be allowed if they chant Jai Shri Ram also went viral.