An associate professor named Ashley Tellis has been removed from his position by the St Joseph's College, Bengaluru, on the grounds of hurting the 'sensitivities of undergraduate students from heterogeneous backgrounds' and 'giving his personal opinions' while delivering his lectures. Tellis - who is also a LGBT rights activist - was working in the Department of English in the college before getting sacked on March 9. ALSO READ | Netizens outraged over viral pic of man ‘humping’ the ‘defiant young girl’ statue in New York However, the professor hasn't taken his termination lying down and has shared a series of Facebook posts highlighting the unfair treatment meted out to him as well as censuring the college in many respects. "Does the college pay any heed to the sensitivities of UG students from heterogeneous backgrounds? Why penalise girls who wear leggings, colour in their hair, torn jeans and who go to pubs - all that may be their idea of culture, right? Why ask girls and boys to sit separately, not be seen together walking or sitting anywhere?" he writes on Facebook, raising a series of issues. He has even lambasted the Principal of St Joseph's College of Arts and Sciences (the one who fired Tellis), accusing him of many wrongdoings. Speaking to indianexpress.com, Tellis said the college always had a problem with his 'homosexuality' and that his sexual orientation apart from his habit to urge students to 'challenge' certain directives and policies of the Indian government was a strong reason behind his sacking. He is also raged over the fact that he was not informed about any complaints (if any, at all) against him in advance and was just asked to step down. Moreover, according to Tellis, the college even 'broke' the clause of one month's notice that was clearly mentioned in his job contract. However, in response to his accusations against the college in his Facebook posts, a statement from the college later said, "Prof Ashley Tellis was appointed on a temporary six-month contract in November 2016. He had clearly stated his orientation in his application and at the interview - the college deemed this to be his personal choice. ALSO READ|‘Why does society place men on a higher pedestal?’: This woman’s powerful post on sexism, motherhood, gender quality The report further said, "Later, while we appreciated his intellectual abilities and his scholarship, we were pained to note that he seemed to pay no heed to the sensitivities of undergraduate students from heterogeneous backgrounds." "After receiving several complaints from students and their parents about Prof Ashley having crossed the line repeatedly in his interaction and comments, the management decided that it would be for the best to terminate his services," the official statement added. Meanwhile Tellis also said in a telephonic conversation,"I'm going to file an online petition and also going to meet a lawyer." Here is the series of Facebook posts shared by Tellis that has triggered a lot of reactions from Netizens.
