New Delhi, Aug 28 (IANS): In the wake of a controversial promo aired on Sudarshan TV channel, Jamia Millia Islamia has written to the Education Ministry, informing it about the issue and requesting them to take appropriate action.
In its communication, the university has said that Sudarshan TV has not only tried to tarnish the image of the university and a particular community but that of the Union Public Service Commission also.
The development comes after Sudarshan TV, in a promo anchored by its Editor-in-Chief Suresh Chavhanke, was seen raising questions on the entry of Muslims into the bureaucracy through the UPSC exam.
Chavhanke also tweeted the promo tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS on August 25, and it has been viewed more than a million times.
Terming Muslims "intruders" into the bureaucracy, he also questioned how members of the community are clearing the prestigious civil services exam in large numbers. He referred to students of Jamia's Residential Coaching Academy as "Jihadis of Jamia" and created the hashtag UPSC_Jihad.
The tweet has drawn a flak from Twiteratis with many demanding the suspension of his account and registration of an FIR.
Meanwhile, the IPS Association has also condemned the channel, tweeting: "A news story targeting candidates in civil services on the basis of religion is being promoted by Sudarshan TV. We condemn the communal and irresponsible piece of journalism."
Thirty students who had received training at Jamia's Residential Coaching Academy cleared the UPSC civil services exam of 2019. Almost 50 of them are non-Muslims.
Jamia Millia Islamia's Residential Coaching Academy provides free coaching to civil services aspirants. This facility is exclusively open for candidates belonging to minority, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe categories. Women candidates are also eligible to avail this opportunity in which Jamia also offers hostel facility.
Jamia Millia Islamia has also recently ranked first in the list of central universities released by the Ministry of Education, beating the Jawaharlal Nehru University and the Aligarh Muslim University to top the list of 40 central varsities.
"Our achievement is more significant because of the challenging time the university has gone through in the recent past," Vice Chancellor Najma Akhtar said.