Jamia Millia Islamia has suspended a faculty member of its Department of Social Work with immediate effect following complaints about the content of an end-of-semester examination paper, specifically over a question that asked students to “discuss the atrocities against Muslim minorities in India”, according to an official order issued by the university.
The suspended faculty member, Virendra Balaji Shahare, was the paper setter for the BA (Hons) Social Work Semester-I examination titled Social Problems in India for the academic session 2025–26.
The suspension comes after Prof. Shahare included a question asking students to “discuss the atrocities against Muslim minorities in India” in the examination paper he set.
The university stated that it had received several complaints from various sources regarding the content of the question paper.
In its order dated December 23, 2025, the university stated that the competent authority had taken a “serious view” of what it described as the professor’s negligence and carelessness. Acting on the instructions of the competent authority, Jamia said Prof. Shahare had been placed under suspension pending further orders.
The order further stated that a police FIR would be filed “as per rules” in connection with the matter.
Invoking Statute 37(1) of the Statutes of the University, the Vice-Chancellor ordered disciplinary action, stating that the alleged negligence amounted to an act “unbecoming” of a faculty member.
The suspension will remain in force pending the completion of an inquiry against the professor.
During the suspension period, Prof. Shahare’s headquarters will remain in New Delhi, and he will not be permitted to leave without prior approval from the competent authority, as per the order.
Copies of the order have been forwarded to senior university officials, including the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Head of the Department of Social Work, the Controller of Examinations, and other administrative offices for necessary action.
Jamia Millia Islamia has not yet publicly detailed the specific objections raised against the question paper.
Meanwhile, the university’s act of suspending a teacher for asking a question directly related to the course content has sparked outrage among students, fellow teachers, and rights groups.
Humaira Aftab, a former student of the Department of Social Work, said, “Shahare sir is a brilliant teacher. What he asked in the examination is the most relevant to the subject he teaches.”
“He is being deliberately targeted for being one of the religious minorities in India, as he is a Dalit,” she said.
Aftab further asked, “If students won’t discuss the plight of minorities in the country, what is the point of teaching social problems in the curriculum?”
“The department should rethink its decision, as it sets a very bad precedent,” she added.
A teacher at the same university, requesting anonymity, told Maktoob, “Those in power make sure that no one, not even an independent minority institution, can go beyond them and ask questions that seek accountability or initiate discussion that exposes the state.”
“Imagine if this were a Muslim teacher. There would have been more stringent consequences. Yet the state keeps asserting that if you have questions to ask, we won’t spare you,” the teacher said.
The faculty member added, “And most times, it is the university’s top leadership that is in the hands of power holders.”
The Jamia Millia Islamia unit of the Fraternity Movement has demanded the revocation of the teacher’s suspension, calling it a move to defend academic freedom.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the movement said, “As the paper setter for the End Semester examination titled Social Problems in India, Professor Shahare raised critical questions on the atrocities faced by the Muslim minority in India.”
Raising broader concerns, the organisation added, “If a university historically known for its Muslim identity and tradition of intellectual resistance cannot allow honest engagement with social realities, then who will?”
The group has demanded the immediate revocation of Professor Shahare’s suspension, warning that any further delay will compel Jamia students to collectively resist what it described as a grave assault on academic freedom.
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