Following complaints from various quarters to the prime minister, the university is in fresh trouble, just days after books by Pakistani authors were removed from the Islamic Studies curriculum of Aligarh Muslim University. This time on the decision of the University Managing Committee to teach Sanatan Dharma and other Indian religions in the Department of Islamic Studies.
Read in Hindi: अलीगढ़ मुस्लिम विश्वविद्यालय के सनातन धर्म पढ़ाने के प्रस्ताव का विरोध
The protest started soon after the university’s press officer Umar Peerzada said that all religions, including Sanatan Dharma, Jainism, Buddhism and Christianity, were included in the curriculum of the Master’s degree of the Department of Islamic Studies.
While the decision has yet to be ratified by the university’s academic and executive councils, the idea has angered local academics. Professor Mufti Zahid Ali Khan, former head of the university’s Sunni Theology Department, said the study of other religions is not possible in the Department of Islamic Studies, as the department only teaches Islamic practices.
Meanwhile, many have questioned the removal of books by Pakistani authors, claiming that they were removed after a complaint to the PM. But the decision should have been passed by the academic and executive councils earlier, he said.