NIT professor's 'proud of Godse' comment: Kerala Minister terms it ingratitude

NEW DELHI: Kerala Higher Education Minister R Bindhu on Sunday slammed a woman professor of the National Institute of Technology-Calicut (NIT) here for glorifying Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse and termed her recent Facebook comment "ingratitude" and an "insult" to the Father of the Nation. Professor A Shaija had been booked by police on Saturday for her Facebook comment "expressing pride" in Nathuram Godse for "saving India".

Responding to the development, Bindu, stating that no other country had witnessed the cruel assassination of its "Father of the Nation" like in India, said, "It (Gandhiji's assassination) was in fact a wound in the heart of India. There is no greater ingratitude than glorifying it." Asserting that teachers are responsible for instilling historical consciousness among students, she told reporters here that Professor's Shaija's remark was an insult to the Father of the Nation. 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".

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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 of many in India. Multiple complaints were lodged against Professor 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 those where complaints were filed against her.