Manipal student calls out prof for dubbing him ‘terrorist’

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) in Karnataka’s Udupi district banned a professor from taking classes after he allegedly called a Muslim student ‘terrorist’. A video of the student calling out the professor over the incident is making rounds on social media platforms.

It is alleged that the professor called the student ‘Kasab’, making a reference to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack convict, because ‘his name sounded similar.’ After the student called the professor out, he can be seen apologising in the video that has now gone viral. In the video, the student asks “how can you pass such statements?” to the professor as his peers around him watch in silence.

Following this, the professor tries to dismiss the remark as a mere joke, but the student goes on to say, “26/11 is not funny, being a Muslim and facing such things in this country is not funny.”

The professor then apologises and remarks "You are just like my son...". The student asks, "Will you talk to your son like that? Will you call him by the name of a terrorist?" The professor said, ‘no’, to which the student said, "Then how can you call me like that in front of so many people? You are a professional, you are teaching. A sorry doesn't change how you think or how you portray yourself here."

A statement from MIT said, “The institute has already initiated an inquiry into the incident and the concerned staff has been debarred from classes till the inquiry is over. We would like everyone to know that the institute does not condone this kind of behaviour and this isolated incident will be dealt with in accordance with the laid down policy.”

The university director of public relations S P Kar said the incident was reported last week. In a WhatsApp post which was later circulated in one of the student groups of the university, the student said, "Hello everyone, all of you must have seen a video going viral, wherein a student is telling his teacher that racist comments are not acceptable."

"The reason behind this was him calling me by an unacceptable name, Kasab, one of the biggest terrorists this country has ever seen. It was a joke, which cannot be considered a valid-enough reason to question the identity of a human being.

However, I had a conversation with the lecturer and realised that he genuinely meant that apology, and we as a student community must let it go as a genuine mistake. I understand what was going on in his head and would like to believe he didn't mean it. It came across wrong from a teacher, a person we admire, but it can be ignored this time. Thank you for standing with me through this. It means a lot," the student said.