Aligarh Muslim University: A senior professor has alleged that she is facing continuing harassment at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) because of her religion.
Senior Professor Rachana Kaushal from the AMU’s Political Science Department remarked she has been facing harassment by AMU Dean Prof. Mohammad Nafis Ahmad Ansari at the prestigious university for more than 27 years as she is a Hindu.
Kaushal made a written complaint to the Vice Chancellor of AMU along with documents and audio recordings. She added that the harassment has caused both professional as well as personal suffering, including a miscarriage.
Battle of Rachana Kaushal Against Aligarh Muslim University
Bhaskar English reported that her ordeal started as early as her joining date as a lecturer in 1998. Rachana remarked AMU Dean Prof. Mohammad Nafis Ahmad Ansari asked her to join the Banaras Hindu University as she is a Hindu. The Dean according to her claimed that teachers from the Hindu community deliberately avoid teaching students from the Muslim community.
Rachana said audio recordings of the Dean’s remarks were submitted to the VC Prof. Naima Khatun as evidence. Rachana added she was denied the role of coordinator by the Dean in the NHRC human rights training program despite she being a statutory member of the Board of Studies (BoS) with expertise and seniority.
It was further added that AMU did not provided her the online meeting link when she went to attend the convocation of her daughter in America. Rachana added the meeting agenda was sent late to her deliberately.
Previously, Rachana was seen fighting a court battle. In 2019, she was an Associate Professor in the department of Political Science. Rachana remarked that AMU acted arbitrarily to deny a fair treatment to her while considering her promotion claim for the post of Professor under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS).
The Court found that the action of AMU was not fair and transparent in denying Rachana a promotion under CAS.
