‘Hindu’ and ‘Muslim’ from university names not to be removed, says Prakash Javadekar

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar. (Express photo)

Union Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar on Monday dismissed the possibility of dropping Hindu and Muslim from the names of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), respectively. The Indian Express had reported that a committee set up by the UGC had suggested altering the names of universities to reflect their secular character. Javadekar did not refute the report, but said the government has not taken any decision to change the names.

“AMU and BHU are very old institutions, and we do not intend to change their names. We formed a committee to look into the administrative, academic and research audits of universities,” he said. “The committee studied various aspects and I have not seen what they have said, but there is neither such decision nor is there any such intention to change the names (of these universities)”.

AMU has also responded to the panel’s suggestion. Mohammad Asim Siddiqui of AMU public relations office said: “The term of reference of this committee is very important. The names Banaras Hindu University and Aligarh Muslim University do not portray that these universities are not secular. This is a contradiction in itself since AMU has always been a secular university.”