‘Revolutionary terrorist’ exam query: MP govt orders inquiry

PTI, Dec 28, 2019, 10:11 AM IST

Gwalior/Bhopal: A section of students and the opposition BJP protested in Madhya Pradesh on Friday after a Master of Arts question in Gwalior’s Jiwaji University described some freedom fighters as “revolutionary terrorists”.

The MP government ordered an inquiry and promised action against the guilty.

The question, in Wednesday’s examination paper of ‘Political Philosophy-III; Modern Indian Political Thought’ for M.A. Political Science students (Third Semester), read “Describe the activities of revolutionary terrorist. What is the difference between extremists and revolutionary terrorists?”

Later on Friday evening, a state public relations department official said MP Minister of Higher Education Jitu Patwari had ordered an inquiry into the matter.

Patwari has directed the principal secretary of the Higher Education department to have a committee probe the incident within three days, the official added.

Earlier, members of All India Democratic Student Organisation (AIDSO) staged a protest in the University’s campus, with its district president Mitali Shukla demanding to know from the varsity if the country’s revolutionaries were “terrorists”.

They submitted a memorandum to Jiwaji University’s Deputy Registrar Rajiv Mishra.

“This question is sending a wrong message among the students as revolutionaries are being termed as terrorists. The country’s revolutionaries are our ideals. We demand action against the professor who set this question paper,” Shukla said.

Deputy Registrar Rajiv Mishra said, “The examination department of the University is seeking clarification from the professor who set the question paper. The examination committee will take a suitable decision after it gets a reply from the concerned professor.”

Meanwhile, ex-Chief Minister and BJP national vice president Shivraj Singh Chouhan demanded action and called the issue “embarrassing as well as painful”.

“How can anyone call them terrorists? Because of their sacrifices, we are able to breathe freely. My demand to the Madhya Pradesh government is to take strict action against such irresponsible people.