A question on beef, asked in an examination at the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, has raised a storm of protests.
In the Catering Technology and Hotel management paper, under the Bachelor of Vocational Studies (second semester) exam, question number three went: ‘Write a classification of beef. Define.’
The question was part of Section A of the question paper worth 15 marks.
After the exam on Wednesday, students wrote to the Vice Chancellor of the University asking that all those who were involved in the drafting of the question paper be suspended.
Students were also agitated with the fact that beef recipes were been taught in the university which has long been held to be a cradle of ‘Hindu’ values. There have been growing instances of intolerance in the university though. The most glaring of these was the resignation of Firoz Khan, appointed professor in the department of Sanskrit, after a section of students objected to it.
According to the National Family Health Survey-5 of 2019-21, 77 per cent of the Indian population is non-vegetarian. In Uttar Pradesh, 59.8 per cent of the population is meat-eating.
Mritunjaya Tiwari, a resident of Varanasi, said that such a question was unacceptable and against the university’s values. “Mahamana ji (Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya- the founder of the BHU) advocated the protection of cows. There is also a gaushala (cow shelter) at the university. To teach about beef in that university is totally against the values of Mahamana ji”.
A student of BHU, unwilling to reveal his name, said that a better question would have been about the benefits that flow from the protection of cows. “The students should have been asked how the production of milk and curd can be increased,” he said.
There has also been criticism of the VC, Sudhir K. Jain for constantly pushing an 'anti-Hindu' agenda ever since he was appointed. One criticism is that in April this year he attended an iftar party at a college even despite objections from some elements in the university, terming it as 'appeasement'.
