Jamia suspends professor following complaints over exam question on ‘atrocities against Muslim minorities’
A professor in the Department of Social Work at Jamia Millia Islamia has been placed under suspension following objections raised to a question included in an end-semester examination paper.
According to an official university order dated December 23, the university received multiple complaints regarding the paper, in which students were asked to “discuss the atrocities against Muslim minorities in India, giving suitable examples” in “Social Problems in India” for the BA (Hons) Social Work programme which was set by Prof. Virendra Balaji Shahare of the Department of Social Work, Semester I, for the 2025-26 academic session.
Taking note of the complaints, Jamia administration said “it found negligence and carelessness” on the part of the faculty member in the matter.
“The Professor has been put under suspension and an inquiry committee has been set up,” said Saima Saeed, Chief Public Relations Officer, Jamia.
According to the suspension letter, the Vice-Chancellor, acting under Statute 37(1) of the Statutes of the University, ordered that Professor Shahare be placed under suspension with immediate effect pending an inquiry.
The authenticity of the suspension letter could not be independently verified. However, an order signed by officiating Registrar CA Sheikh Safiullah and circulated on social media stated that the faculty member had been placed under suspension “till further orders.”
Kanchan Gupta, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, posted these two photos on X and wrote: “Jamia Millia Islamia suspends Social Work Dept professor for extremely provocative and communally polarising question in Semester 1 question paper. Inquiry ordered. FIR being filed. JMI is a Central University with a mixed student community. The question shows malicious intent.”
Jamia Millia Islamia suspends Social Work Dept professor for extremely provocative and communally polarising question in Semester 1 question paper. Inquiry ordered. FIR being filed.
JMI is a Central University with a mixed student community. The question shows malicious intent. pic.twitter.com/GSHzJOsg2o— Kanchan Gupta 🇮🇳 (@KanchanGupta) December 23, 2025
A senior university official disputed media reports claiming that a police complaint would be filed “as per rules” against the professor. The official told the OT that the suspension would remain in place until the enquiry committee submits its report.
“There is no proposal to file any police case against the faculty member. The matter is being examined internally through a committee,” an official said, seeking to clear confusion arising from the wording of the order.
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The issue has split the campus with one official on the condition of anonymity said the paper after being set must have got clearance of the setting committee. Several Jamia students demanded the revocation of the suspension, describing it as an “assault on academic freedom”, reported The Hindu.
Satyam Vats, a member of the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s JNU unit, said, “How can a Central University ask this question when Hindus are being massacred in our neighbourhood every day?”
Student bodies at Jamia, including the Students Organisation of India (SOI), the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), and the Fraternity Movement, have expressed solidarity with the suspended professor and demanded the immediate revocation of the suspension order.
The Fraternity Movement, a student organisation, said it supports the professor. “We stand firmly with the professor… Jamia has long been a site of critical thought, debate, and dissent, and it must remain so.” Fraternity Movement is backed by Jamaat-E-Islami (Hind).
Another JEIH students body, SIO, said: “Punishing an academic for asking students to critically analyse ‘atrocities against Muslim minorities’ in a ‘Social Problems in India’ examination is a shameful capitulation to political intolerance and a direct assault on academic freedom.”
“It is deeply disturbing that the university views the acknowledgment of documented social realities as ‘negligence’ or an ‘unbecoming act’. Social Work as a discipline is rooted in understanding marginalisation and injustice; silencing discourse on the violence faced by Muslims does not erase the reality, but rather compromises the integrity of our education. By threatening police action and suspending a faculty member for upholding scholarly rigour, the administration has set a dangerous precedent,” said the SIO in a statement.
Student Federation of India (SFI) said: “By penalising him…, the university administration shamefully prioritises silencing critical voices over scholarly integrity and represents a clear surrender to the Hindutva forces stifling dissent in academia.”
“If Jamia, a beacon of intellectual resistance, succumbs to this ideological clampdown, who will defend the right to critical inquiry? We stand unwaveringly with Professor Shahare, whose courage resists the creeping influence of oppressive ideologies in our institutions. This suspension isn’t just a punitive act; it’s a threat to Jamia’s core values of debate and dissent. We cannot allow Jamia to become an RSS outpost,” said the SFI.
