Watch: Media tries to create a lynch-mob atmosphere in Jammu 

The recent media furore over a professor of Political Science in University of Jammu—after he allegedly referred to freedom-fighter Bhagat Singh as a “revolutionary-terrorist” during a class lecture—has once again brought the perils of clickbait journalism to the centre-stage.

Soon after demonstrations erupted against and in support of Prof Mohammad Tajuddin on the campus, the vice chancellor Prof Manoj Dhar, in a knee jerk reaction, barred Prof Tajuddin from teaching on Friday. The following day, the newspapers went a step ahead and published reports, giving no or little space to the version of the students who had attended the lecture and stood in solidarity with their teacher.

Union minister and BJP MP, Jitendra Singh, also jumped the gun, stating that “the agency concerned will take cognisance.” Singh told the media in Jammu: “A bottom line has to be drawn to maintain the patriotic and nationalistic integrity in the country.”

Previously, harping on a mischievously edited video clip,a section of media went hammer and tongs at Prof Tajuddin. Instead of reporting the incident with professional integrity, they were seen instigating students on the varsity campus.

“The biggest problem facing India today is that whether it’s JNU, AMU or some universities in Kashmir, students are being brainwashed,” said an agitated reporter while reporting for a local TV channel, asking, “why do these professors quote such examples which hurt the sentiments?”

“This professor has a habit of making critical comments on everything from religion to revolutionary freedom fighters,”a student, who was protesting against the professor, said, talking to the media as others nodded in agreement, stressing that “teachers must desist from making such critical statements”.

A group of students from other departments even tried to break the door of professor’s room in the department and damaged the name plate.

But when confronted, inevitably, the rabble-rousing reporters were at loss to understand as to why all the students were not up in arms against the teacher. Caught on camera, one of them admittedly said, “I don’t understand their (the students from political science department) views.”

The reporters were also seen giving sermons to the motley group of students, who believed that the professor should be sacked immediately and booked under the National Security Act. The reporters, during Facebook-live streaming, went on to declare his lecture as “shameful and scandalous”.

Many students from the department, however, lambasted the media for its misleading reporting. “Those who don’t know the ‘P’ of Political Science, including the students from other academic backgrounds and media persons, want to impose their teaching codes on universities now,”pointed out Sakshi Sharma, a PhD scholar at the department.

The two students who have filed a complaint with the VC are ABVP and RSS activists. One of them is from the law department and the other from the tourism department.

Shravan Singh Jamwal, an M Phil student, claimed that the entire class stands in solidarity with her teacher barring one student, Deepak Gupta, who circulated the edited video and is an ABVP activist.

Maintaining that his remarks were “blown out of the context and a 25-second clip was made from his two-hour lecture,” Prof Tajuddin, who teaches Western Political Philosophy, clarified that he was talking about Lenin and the people who were trying to bring a political change in Russia under the Czar’s rule. “During the Russian revolution, there was a group that resorted to violence to achieve their political objectives. One among them was Lenin's brother who was hanged for plotting to kill the Czar. I was telling the students that the State sees any political violence against itself as an act of terrorism. In India also, there were such revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh who used violence and the British Indian State called them terrorist,” he said, adding that “Similarly, I said, in the current times, those who are using violence against the Indian State are called terrorists.”

“There can be a personal viewpoint, a patriotic viewpoint and a State’s viewpoint. As a teacher, I am required to teach from State’s viewpoint,”he elaborated, and added, “But I immensely respect Bhagat Singh for his contribution to the Indian freedom struggle and making supreme sacrifice for the country.”

“Personally, I denounce every kind of violence,”he further said emphatically before concluding that “still, if anyone is hurt, I’m really sorry for it though I didn’t intend to hurt anyone’s feelings.”

His entire statement can be viewed here:

“The media—knowingly or unknowingly—created a polarised atmosphere wherein anyone who is not well versed with political theory could attack the professor. And an honest teacher, despite having no bad intention against anyone, had to apologise,” Jamwal regretted before asserting that “It shows RSS’ desperation for appropriating revolutionary freedom fighters, who stood for everything that is antithetical to its ideology, and the media’s penchant for sensationalism.”