DU professor booked for objectionable Facebook post on Goddess Durga

NEW DELHI: An assistant professor of a Delhi University college has been booked for making objectionable remarks on Goddess Durga in a post on his Facebook account. Police claimed that no arrest has been made in the case so far.

Police sources said that on Saturday they received a complaint stating that the professor, identified as Kedar Kumar Mandal, had uploaded a post on Goddess Durga on his Facebook account, which hurt religious sentiments of several people.

The National Democratic Teachers Front (NDTF), a BJP-affiliated teachers' body at the University, had filed a complaint on Saturday at the Lodhi Colony police station against Mandal.

The Dyal Singh College professor received strong criticism over his Facebook post from several quarters and has attracted the ire of student organisations like the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which has demanded his suspension.

"We demand the suspension of this person who has no respect for religious sentiments of Hindus as well as the dignity of women. Such a person, if allowed to continue as a teacher, will only spread hatred amongst students," said Saket Bahuguna, national spokesperson, ABVP.

V S Negi, general secretary of NDTF, said the teachers' fraternity is also angry at Mandal's antics.

"Tolerance among Hindus does not permit anyone to throw mud on us. The complaint is an attempt to stop such incidents in the future. In recent times, we have seen that once action is taken against such people, they start crying that their freedom is curtailed," said Negi.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Chinmoy Biswal told reporters that a case has been registered under Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage reli­gious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or reli­gious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code.

The incident comes during Navratri, or the nine sacred days, which mark the most auspicious days of the lunar calendar in Hinduism.