NIT Calicut professor booked for ‘Facebook post praising Godse’

Shaija later deleted the comment, but its screenshots were widely circulated.

CPI(M) youth wing DYFI Saturday demanded Shaija be sacked since she had “tried to foment trouble in society”.

Congress MP M K Raghavan, who represents Kozhikode (Calicut), posted on X: “I am ashamed to hear an inappropriate comment against Mahatma Gandhi and praise of Godse’s deed by a person holding a responsible post in NIT, a premier institution falls under my constituency. Appropriate exemplary action should be taken by the authorities concerned.”

In a letter to the NIT-C director, the MP said, “Such statements not only reflect poorly on the academic integrity of our institution but also undermine the values we strive to uphold. It is essential to ensure that our academic environment remains inclusive, respectful and free from any form of intolerance or hate speech.”

Kunnamangalam police under Kozhikode city limits, meanwhile, registered a case against Shaija under IPC section 153 ( wantonly giving provocation, with intent to cause riot) after three organisations complained against the professor.

Prof Shaija, when contacted, said, “My comment was not to appreciate the killing of Gandhiji. I never wanted to do so. I had read Godse’s book, Why I killed Gandhi. Godse was also a freedom fighter. There is a lot of information and revelations in his book, which the common man does not know. Godse has enlightened us in his book. Against this backdrop, I had commented on the advocate’s Facebook post. When I realised that people have started distorting my comment, I deleted it.”

NIT-C was in the spotlight recently after a group of students, under the banner of a science and spirituality club, had drawn a saffron coloured map of India at the gate of the institute on the day of the Prana Pratishtha. A section of students had protested against it. A Dalit student named Vysakh Premkumar had also raised a placard saying India is not a Ram Rajya, which led to a scuffle between the students.

Two days ago, the institute suspended Premkumar, but it was later put on hold until an appellant authority decides on his appeal. The suspension triggered further unrest.

Prof Shaija, who has been an NIT-C faculty for the last 25 years, said the furore against her is connected to the recent student unrest on campus.

She said nobody from the institute has sought an explanation from her so far. “I am not a sympathiser of any political party. I am an academician,” she said.