On Saturday, 21st October, the management of ABES College in Ghaziabad suspended two professors, Mamta Gautam and Shweta Sharma, for opposing ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan by a student and getting him off stage. Director of ABES, Sanjay Kumar Singh, confirmed this suspension.
The director of ABES College Dr Sanjay Kumar Singh shared this information via the official X (formerly Twitter) handle of the institute. In the 59-second video, he introduced himself and said, “A video came to my notice yesterday. Based on that video, we formed a high-level inquiry committee. The college administration had directed this committee to submit a report within 24 hours. On the basis of the recommendation given by the committee, 2 faculty are suspended for behaving irresponsibly.”
— abes (@abesecofficial) October 21, 2023
Mamta Gautam, an associate professor in the chemistry department at ABES College, and Shweta Sharma, an assistant professor in the same department, are the two professors suspended by the college. Mamta Gautam has 16 years of teaching experience, while Shweta Sharma has 12 years of experience in the field.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, the ABES College website was hacked, and the hacker depicted professor Mamta Gautam as Shurpanakha and displayed ‘Jai Shri Ram’ prominently on the homepage. However, by the afternoon, the website was restored to its original state.
Notably, just before the website hacking incident, Mamta Gautam had posted a video where she warned of legal consequences for those criticising her. In the video, she identified herself as a devout Hindu and highlighted various alleged mistakes of the victim student.
Ab Victim card khel rahi hai madam 😁 pic.twitter.com/dFWelT4wQq
— Naweed (@Spoof_Junkey) October 20, 2023
During a cultural event at ABES College in Ghaziabad on 20th October, a student, while addressing the audience from the stage, greeted them with “Jai Shri Ram.” In response, associate professor Mamta Gautam, who was present there, admonished the student and took him off stage.
Mamata Gautam, a teacher from ABES Engineering college in Ghaziabad expelled a student from stage for greeting audience with "Jai Shree Ram". The student was about to perform at the College Cultural Fest.
— BALA (@erbmjha) October 20, 2023
@ABESEC032 should explain Bharat me Jai Shree Ram nahi bolenge to kya… pic.twitter.com/kvN3NGVcQ0
As soon as the video of this incident went viral on social media, Hindu organisations started protesting. The college faculties Mamta Gautam and Shweta Sharma are now suspended.