The professor was booked last week by the police for her Facebook comment 'expressing pride' in Nathuram Godse for 'saving India'.
An FIR has been registered against. Prof Shaija. (Supplied)
The Youth Congress (YC) on Wednesday, 7 February, held a protest march to the National Institute of Technology-Calicut in Kozhikode, demanding action for treason against a woman professor who had allegedly glorified Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse.
Following agitations by various student organisations for action against A Shaija in the last few days, the Youth Congress (YC) activists held a protest march to the institute.
On reaching the institute, they tried to remove barricades set by police to prevent them from moving into the campus.
As the activists climbed on top of the barricades and also tried to pull them down, the police resorted to using water cannons to disperse them.
However, the YC activists stood their ground and demanded that Professor Shaija be removed from her post. They also accused the police of protecting the professor and acting according to the directions of the RSS.
The YC activists also challenged Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to recommend to the Centre to take action for treason against the professor.
Earlier, similar protests were held by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student organisation of the BJP, as well as the KSU, SFI and MSF.
On 6 February, the SFI the students’ wing of the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala staged a protest march in front of the NIT-C.
Significantly, the SFI protest came a day after the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), staged a protest against the professor.
ABVP activists marched to the institution and burnt an effigy of Godse on 5 February. They further sought action against the professor, saying that she posted an insulting comment against the Mahatma.
“The professor posted something which is insulting the Father of the Nation and praising Godse who assassinated him,” a student leader said while addressing the ABVP activists.
During the protest, SFI leaders spoke about the protest march organised by the ABVP.
“We saw the ABVP organising a protest near the campus on Monday. This made all of us doubt whether the ABVP in Kerala is speaking against the RSS ideologues. It was the RSS idealogues that hailed Godse and said the day he was hanged should be observed as Balidan Diwas,” an SFI leader said during the protest.
“We should also doubt the intentions behind this protest,” she added.
The professor was booked last week by the police for her Facebook comment “expressing pride” in Nathuram Godse for “saving India”.
Shaija, a senior faculty member of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at NIT in Kozhikode, posted a comment on Facebook on 30 January saying “Proud of Godse for saving India.”
She was commenting on a post by a lawyer, Krishna Raj, who posted Godse’s photograph captioning it Hindu Mahasabha activist Nathuram Vinayak Godse, a hero for many in India.
Multiple complaints were lodged against Professor Shaija in several police stations in the city by various student organisations following which an FIR was registered against her.
IPC Section 153 (wantonly giving provocation with the intent to cause riot) was invoked against the professor.
(With PTI inputs)
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