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This is an archive article published on February 20, 2019

Kashmiri professor at LPU says morphed photo of FB post forced him to resign

“Some student morphed the picture of the Facebook post and added ‘What you sow, so shall you reap. This attack is answer to that’.”

Kashmiri professor at LPU says morphed photo of FB post forced him to resign He also claimed that later, a group of people, including students, attempted to confront him at his rented accommodation near the university.

An assistant professor at Lovely Professional University (LPU) was allegedly forced to resign following a post on social media in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack on February 14.

Salman Shaheen, who teaches English to B Tech students, has alleged that somebody morphed a photo of his Facebook status to make it seem like he had written something objectionable about the attack.

“I had written ‘Instead of using gun in Kashmir, we should use language of love’. I had also posted ‘When blood of Kashmiri people is shed that time we should also promote it’. Another message read, ‘We don’t promote terrorism, let’s not act blind’,” Shaheen told The Indian Express. “Some student morphed the picture of the Facebook post and added ‘What you sow, so shall you reap. This attack is answer to that’.”

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Shaheen said that when he got to know about the morphed photo, he contacted his head of department. “I contacted my HOD and informed, and the next day I took leave and went to the Pro-Chancellor’s office where I explained everything,” he said. “But then she (the Pro-Chancellor) told me that the students are angry and that I should resign… I asked her what will happen if I don’t resign and she responded that she would hand me to police.”

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Shaheen said that he submitted his resignation as he “couldn’t have taught” in such conditions.  He also claimed that later, a group of people, including students, attempted to confront him at his rented accommodation near the university. After contacting several officials, including the J&K Governor’s office, he was later taken away under police protection and is currently in Kashmir.

Meanwhile, LPU director (International Affairs) Aman Mittal, said, “We got to know about his post on Facebook and when questioned, he realised his mistake and he decided to resign from the university and the university accepted the resignation.”

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He said the university had not forced him to resign as he had just been called to explain his side of the story.Mittal also claimed he was not aware about what happened at the rented accommodation.

Bashaarat Masood is a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express. He has been covering Jammu and Kashmir, especially the conflict-ridden Kashmir valley, for two decades. Bashaarat joined The Indian Express after completing his Masters in Mass Communication and Journalism from the University in Kashmir. He has been writing on politics, conflict and development. Bashaarat was awarded with the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2012 for his stories on the Pathribal fake encounter. ... Read More

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