Allama Iqbal’s photo on BHU Urdu dept’s poster, absence of Malviya’s, trigger row

Varanasi: A group of students raised objection over a poster displayed on a Facebook page by the Urdu department of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) that carried the photograph of Allama Muhammad Iqbal — the Urdu poet 'who envisioned the two-nation theory and was an inspiration for Pakistan'. The picture of BHU founder Pt Madan Mohan Malaviya, was, however, missing from the poster, they said.
The students, who met the dean to register their protest and submit a memorandum in this episode, alleged that Urdu department authorities not only skipped the image of Pt Malviya in their poster but they used a photo of Allama Iqbal. Both acts were unacceptable, said the students demanding action in this episode.
Following an uproar on social media, the poster was removed from the FB page and the Urdu department apologized. The dean of the faculty of arts also formed a committee to probe into the matter.
The Urdu department authorities replaced the poster on its Facebook page and tweeted, “Urdu Department, Faculty of Arts, #BHU, is organizing a webinar as per the details given in the poster. Sincerest apologies for the inadvertent mistake in the earlier poster that went viral on social media."
BHU spokesman Rajesh Singh said, “The Urdu department of the faculty of Arts (BHU) had organised a webinar on the role of Allama Iqbal in the growth of Urdu on the occasion of Urdu Day on Tuesday. The department had uploaded the poster of the webinar on its FB page on Monday carrying the photograph of the Urdu poet. When attention of the Urdu department officials was drawn towards the issue, they removed the poster on Sunday late evening.”
“The poster was replaced by another poster which contained the image of the BHU founder. The head of the Urdu department expressed his apology in writing,” said Singh adding, “The dean of the faculty also tweeted the new poster with an apology and formed a committee to look into the matter.”
A group of BHU students, including research scholars Vivek Kumar, Gunjesh Gautam, Divyamani Dwivedi and Patanjali Pandey on Tuesday met the dean of faculty of arts in his office and raised serious objections over the matter. Levelling serious allegations on the Urdu department officials, they had demanded action against them.