BHOPAL: A Muslim assistant professor at a government college in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh has been booked by the local police on Tuesday following a CCTV footage allegedly showed him damage a Rangoli with his foot. The rangoli depicted Radha-Krishna and the national flag. He was also accused of posting offensive WhatsApp statuses.Jujair Ali Rangwala, an assistant professor of chemistry at the Government Arts and Commerce College in Kannod was booked based on a complaint by the college administration.Speaking to TNIE, Kannod police station in-charge Tehzeeb Qazi said, “The assistant professor Jujair Ali Rangwala has been booked u/s 298 and 196 BNS (damaging, destroying or defiling a sacred object and actions which promote enmity or disharmony between groups or communities) on the complaint by the college administration.”Dewas district collector Rituraj also conmfirmed the development and stated, “Immediately after the matter came to our knowledge, action was taken in the matter. While an FIR has been lodged on the acting principal’s complaint, we’ve written to the higher education department to remove the concerned assistant professor from duties at the Kannod college.”The issue was brought to the authorities attention by students associated with the RSS’s student wing, the ABVP. They submitted the CCTV footage allegedly showing the professor deliberately damaging Rangoli with his foot and screenshots of the professor’s offensive WhatsApp statuses, including those pertaining to India’s recent Champions Trophy cricket title win.While the controversial and offensive WhatsApp statuses date back to the recent past, the CCTV’s date is yet not known.Confirming that the CCTV grab showing the assistant professor Jujair Ali damaging the Rangoli, related to the college campuses only, the acting principal of the college Prem Pal said, “Though the video is of our college premises only, it’s still not clear how old it actually is. We’ve lodged a FIR against the concerned assistant professor at the Kannod police station.”Meanwhile, the state’s sports and youth affairs minister Vishwas Sarang commented on the issue in Bhopal, “If anyone, whosoever he or she may be, damages a Rangoli depicting gods or makes social media posts defaming the country internationally, sternest possible action will be taken, to ensure that such acts aren’t repeated.”
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