The controversy over Dr Firoz Khan’s appointment in BHU’s Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Vijnan (SVDV) has prolonged to the third week and while the university firmly stands its ground on the recruitment – which was announced on the 5th of November – the students have been protesting from the 7th this month, alleging corruption and conspiracy in their faculty.

“Hume bas taale kholne ka intezaar hai. Humko humari duty karni hai” (We are only waiting for the locks put on our department doors, to be opened. We just wish to our job), a senior teacher told The Logical Indian on the condition of anonymity.

As the debate has grown and penetrated every household, Dr Firoz Khan has decided to hibernate until sentiments simmer down. Currently seeking emotional refuge in his hometown in Rajasthan, Dr Firoz Khan says that he has been aggrieved by the students’ reactions.

Who is Firoz Khan?

The 29-year-old comes from a family of Muslims who’ve had a long association of interest and appreciation for Hindu culture. Starting from his paternal grandfather who would perform bhajans in Rajasthan, serenading devotees in temples, Dr Firoz Khan grew up with respect and admiration for the Hindu dharma.

His father, Ramzan Khan sings bhajans at temples, performs aartis and serves at cow shelters. Ramzan holds the qualification of a Shastri (Bachelor degree) in Sanskrit, making it no wonder that his son went on to pursue an Acharya degree (postgraduate studies) and a PhD from the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan in Jaipur.

Apart from being highly qualified, he also has the certified clearance of NET and JRF to his name.

The NET (National Eligibility Test) is a fairly recent examination mandated by the University Grants Commission (UGC) for anyone who wishes to apply for the position of an Assistant Professor in an Indian university or government college. The JRF (Junior Research Fellowship) is a paid research fellowship offered by the UGC to those candidates who clear NET with high scores, obtaining ranks.

Dr Firoz Khan has both credentials, in addition to his PhD in Sanskrit.

“There are certain technicalities involving the appointment in the SVDV faculty. Having completed my PhD in Sanskrit as well, I am not ‘technically’ eligible to serve in SVDV but Khan holds every qualification necessary”, a BHU professor from the Department of Sanskrit under the Faculty of Arts, told The Logical Indian.

The ‘technicality’ being referred to here is fairly simple. A teacher of SVDV needs to hold the qualification of a Shastri or Acharya to be a member of the teaching corps – and there lies one of the primary differences between the Faculty of Arts and SVDV, in Banaras Hindu University.

The teaching members of the Faculty of Arts have obtained their qualification by studying Sanskrit as a mere language – understanding its structure of grammar, etymology, semantics, linguistics, philology, etc. But the knowledge of Sanskrit as a Shastri/Acharya is necessary to be a teaching member of the SVDV faculty. The nature of study dives deep into the ‘paramparic’ (religious and traditional) understanding of Sanskrit – including intensive learning of the Vedas.

There are only a handful of institutions in the country that impart such education and Firoz Khan has graduated as an Acharya and completed his PhD from one such university – the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, in Jaipur.

Thus, he is fully and entirely qualified for the position of Assistant Professor in the Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Vijnan faculty of Banaras Hindu University – as appointed by the Vice-Chancellor and Head of Department.

He also scored a perfect 10 in the recruitment examination that the university asks prospective professors to take. Other candidates were reported to have scored between 0-2 and Khan’s stellar result, in addition to his academic accolades, inspired the authorities to go ahead with his appointment.

However, a position earned by hard work and merit is being objected over his name and identity, by the students.

Students’ Specific Problem

A conflict of interest can have several layers making it difficult to explain but the students’ problems over Khan’s appointment is as clear as it can get – a Muslim Acharya cannot teach Hindu students dharmic studies.

Several allegations of corrupt favouritism, ‘innate character flaws’ in present teachers, and money-swindling surfaced in a piece written on a far-right website.

The students, while claiming that they do not have a problem with a Muslim teaching Sanskrit as a part of the Arts Faculty, have enforced a lockout for two weeks at the SVDV unit because Khan’s ‘identity’ does not have the permission to teach as per the department’s foundational doctrine.

While speaking to The Indian Express, a protesting student said that the foundational tablet of the department states that the entry of a ‘non-Aryan’ and ‘non-Hindu’ is prohibited. Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists are allowed but any other ‘non-Hindu’, ‘non-Aryan’ individual …