A video of an ongoing classroom session at the Jindal Global Law School has surfaced on the Internet in which a professor is seen ranting about Kashmir being a territory “occupied by India”. Identified as Arijeet Ghosh, the Assistant Professor who is a faculty at the Law school who is seen giving his opinion on Kashmir being a ‘contentious issue’ in a class that reportedly took place on September 9, 2021.
In the screen recording of the video, shared by columnist Shefali Vaidya on Twitter, during the class of BA LLB course at the Jindal Global Law School, the assistant professor is seen answering a question by his student. He says. “Yes, it has never happened and that is why Kashmir always remains a contentious issue…And if you want my opinion, I call Jammu and Kashmir to be India-occupied-Kashmir although India tries to say it is Indian territory and Indian-administered-Kashmir. I’ll definitely think it is an aspect of occupation, which is what Kashmiris also say.”
After a while trying to replug his opinion, he said, “I am not going into that, it is an emotive issue right..? We see Sunny Deol screaming on the border saying Doodh mangoge to Kheer Denge, Kashmir mangoge to Cheer denge (If you ask us milk, we will give you custard. If you ask us Kashmir, you will be sliced)” With a goofy grin, the unapologetic professor tried to cover it up saying, “There is a lot of emotional aspect to Kashmir and hence I am not going into that…”
Why has @JindalLaw become such a den of anti-India vipers @MPNaveenJindal? This statement allegedly by Prof Arijeet Ghosh of Jindal Law is shocking. As a founder VC, do you ratify the sentiment that Kashmir has been ‘occupied’ by India? pic.twitter.com/AYaiKIRkqi
— Shefali Vaidya. 🇮🇳 (@ShefVaidya) February 3, 2022
The bio of Prof. Arijeet Ghosh on the school’s website says he was also part of the 21st Law Commission of India as a consultant. With a specialisation in Human Rights in LLM from University College, London, Ghosh has worked with think tanks, ‘Human Rights Initiatives’ besides being an assistant professor at the Jindal Global Law School.
Hi @MPNaveenJindal as the founder chancellor of @JindalLaw, do you endorse these course contents? If yes, why do you bother with the tricolour? Is that just for PR? pic.twitter.com/hVsWseBJIU
— Shefali Vaidya. 🇮🇳 (@ShefVaidya) November 7, 2021
In an earlier development, the school was caught in controversy in a similar incident regarding the syllabus of the Political Science course. The course manual of the Political Science course taught in the school had topics calling the Indian state ‘oppressive’ while talking about the revolutionary struggle in India. In another segment, Claims of ‘Rise of Hindu Authoritarianism’ were also made. The issue was pointed out by Shefali Vaidya on Twitter when she was seen asking for an explanation from Naveen Jindal, the industrialist who runs the school.
Statements by #ShrutiPandey (Associate Professor Legal Practice and Director of the Centre for Human Rights at Jindal Global Law School) in the video:Prof.Shruti Pandey quoting a scholar,“You cannot be a Hindu without being a practitioner,every Hindu practices untouchability.(1/n pic.twitter.com/8cQFRTet5q
— Matam Mayurnath🇮🇳🚩✍️ (@Mayurmatam) October 9, 2021
This is not the first time when anti-Indian rhetorics like these have come out of Jindal classrooms. The Anti-India and Hinduphobic apologia runs deep in private university campuses like Jindal Global Law school. Earlier, another faculty from the same institution, Shruti Pandey had associated Untouchability with the Hindu religion as a necessary practice.
In a video that had gone viral on social media, Shruti Pandey was heard as saying, “My professor Upendra Bakshi, who taught in the law school, used to say that every Hindu practices untouchability…Initially, when he said that, I didn’t think so… But it is true, guys. Go back and look at yourself and how you practice untouchability in quiet, invisible ways that we don’t even understand.”
