Controversy erupted when a screenshot of a question paper from Sharda University in Uttar Pradesh made it to social media platforms on Friday (May 6).
A question in the question paper asked students to elaborate on the similarities between Fascism and Hindutva. It asked students to establish the similarities through examples.
The question read, “Do you find any similarities between Fascism/Nazism and Hindu right-wing (Hindutva)? Elaborate with arguments?”
In a statement, the University said, “The University has constituted a three-member committee of senior faculty members to look into the possibility of bias in the questions asked from the 1st year BA (Political Science) Hons. Students, pending this inquiry, the University has suspended the concerned faculty.”
Expressing its regret, it said, “The University regrets that such an incident has taken place that may have the potential for fomenting social discord.”
The University did not disclose the name of the faculty who had set the questions paper and how it passed the scrutiny process of setting the question paper.
In a statement, the University said, “The University fraternity is totally averse to any line of thought which distorts the great national identity and the inclusive culture inherent in our national ethos. As an institution of higher learning, we are committed to the larger mission of civilizational revival that celebrates the best of our religion, tradition, history, and culture that have shaped not just the idea of India, but all the facets of human knowledge on the world stage.”
Lately, Islamists and Leftists are running a campaign to malign Hinduism by spreading the word that Hinduism and Hindutva are different and Hindutva is a violent ideology.
Former Congress president and MP (Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi has been maligning Hindutva for months by publicly relating Hindutva with violence. From stages in public functions, Rahul Gandhi was explaining to audiences how Hindutva was a violent ideology.
In a book launch event in Delhi in October last year, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale had said that Hindutva was all-encompassing and was not Left or Right.
“The world had gone to left, or was forced to go left, and now the situation is such that world is moving towards the right, so that it’s at the centre. That is what Hindutva is all about, It’s neither Left nor Right,” said Hosabale.
