Youth Congress demands action for treason against NIT prof who glorified Godse

Kozhikode (Kerala), Feb 7 (PTI) The Youth Congress (YC) on Wednesday held a protest march to the National Institute of Technology-Calicut here 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.

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 here, posted a comment on Facebook on January 30 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. PTI HMP SDP HMP SDP ROH