'Not A Big Issue': Karnataka Minister on Professor Calling Muslim Student ‘Kasab’

A day after a professor at a private university in Karnataka was suspended for comparing a Muslim student with a terrorist and calling him “Kasab”,  Karnataka Education minister BC Nagesh said it’s “not a big issue”.  The minister also defended his comment, saying “almost everyone uses words like Ravan, Shakuni”.

“Even in Assembly, many times we’ve spoken like this. It doesn’t become an issue. When you speak about Kasab it becomes an issue. The teacher shouldn’t have said that but it’s just politics and confirming the vote bank,” added the minister.

The professor at Manipal in Udupi district was suspended after a video of the incident went viral on the social media. The student and the professor of the Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) sorted out the issue after the professor tendered an apology.

However, after the video of the student confronting the professor for his remark went viral on social media, the university suspended the professor and initiated a probe. The college has debarred the professor from taking classes till the enquiry is over.

In the video, the student is purportedly seen questioning the assistant professor of the department for the unsavoury comment. The professor is seen clarifying that he said it in a humorous tone.

The professor apologised to the student and told him he was like his son. The student further says if his father had said something like that, he would disown him. He asked the professor whether he would call his son a terrorist in front of an entire class.

Later, both the teacher and the student spoke to each other and ironed out the differences.

(With inputs from PTI)