Case against NIT Calicut professor for 'proud of Godse' comment

KOZHIKODE : The Kerala police on Saturday registered a case against a woman professor of the National Institute of Technology-Calicut (NIT) for her Facebook comment "expressing pride" in Nathuram Godse for assassinating Mahatma Gandhi and thus "saving India".

Multiple complaints were lodged against Professor A Shaija in several police stations in the city by various student organisations, including SFI, KSU and MSF, 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. Kunnamangalam and Nadakkavu police stations were among the stations where complaints were filed against her.

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Shaija, a senior faculty member of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at NIT here on January 30 posted a comment on Facebook saying "Proud of Godse for saving India". She had commented on a post by a lawyer, Krishna Raj, who posted Godse's photograph saying Hindu Mahasabha activist Nathuram Vinayak Godse, a hero of many in India. A senior police official of the district told PTI that a case has been registered against the professor and the investigation has begun. However, as the matter became a controversy, the professor deleted her comment.

The NIT has been marred by controversy for the past few weeks after a section of students celebrated the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22. A student named Vyshakh, who reportedly protested against the celebration was suspended by the college following a brawl between two sections of the students. Meanwhile, Kunnamangalam police on Friday registered a case against 10 students for allegedly assaulting Kailas on January 22. The action against Vyshakh was freezed on February 2 after he approached the appellate authority in the institution.