Dalit professor Mahesh Prasad Ahirwar accuses BHU of caste discrimination
Dr. Mahesh Prasad Ahirwar, Professor, Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology has alleged that despite being the most senior in the department, he was denied the post of Head of the Department.
Published on: 03 Apr 2025, 2:44 pm
Uttar Pradesh: Banaras Hindu University (BHU) is once again facing allegations of caste discrimination. After a student recently alleged discrimination, now a professor has also filed a similar complaint.
Professor Dr. Mahesh Prasad Ahirwar of the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology has alleged that despite being the most senior in the department, he was denied the post of head of the department. On March 31, Vice Chancellor Sudhir Kumar Jain appointed Dr. Sushma Ghildiyal, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, to this post instead of him.
“This is a gross form of caste discrimination,” said Ahirwar, who is from a Dalit community. He claimed that the department head post is given on the basis of seniority through rotation, and this process was violated by sidelining him.
Although the university administration has not made an official statement on this, a senior official said that a meeting will be called to decide seniority. Ahirwar says that this is against the rules, as his seniority is already decided. If the university does not resolve the matter, he is ready to take legal action.
The controversy erupted after a PhD aspirant, Shivam Sonkar, began a sit-in protest outside the vice-chancellor’s residence last week. Sonkar claims he was denied admission to the PhD programme despite securing second position in the general category in the entrance exam.
Such allegations have been leveled against BHU earlier also
BHU has faced similar allegations earlier as well. Dr. Shobhana Narlikar, the first Dalit woman in the country to hold the post of Chairperson in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, also faced discrimination for a long time.
According to Dr Narlikar, his promotion was deliberately stopped since 2017. He alleged that whenever an interview was fixed for his promotion, it was cancelled at the last moment. Despite fulfilling all the qualifications, he was not made a professor, while junior and ineligible people were promoted.
Eventually, he was appointed the head of the department after staging a solo dharna for several weeks when the university administration had no other option left.
