Students protest against 'namaz' at mosque inside college in Varanasi

Lucknow: Hundreds of students of the iconic Uday Pratap College (UP College) in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday staged demonstration before the College demanding ban on the offering of 'namaz' (prayers) at the mosque inside its campus.

The protest by the students came within days of a letter written by the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board to the 115 year old Varanasi college six years back staking its claim on a portion of the land on which the College was situated, triggered a huge row after some people posted the letter on social media. .

The letter, dated December 6, 2018, had said that the land on which Uday Pratap College,popularly known as UP College, was situated belonged to the Waqf and had been illegally occupied by the College. The letter, written by the then Waqf Board assistant secretary Aale Ateeq, had sought a reply from the College management stating that the property would be registered as a Waqf Board property if the notice was not replied to within 15 days.

The Waqf Board, however, withdrew its claim after it triggered a huge controversy.

The students of the College demanded that a ban should be imposed on the offering of ‘namaz’ inside the campus stating that it disturbed academic academic activities. Some students also tried to recite 'Hanuman Chalisa' (hymns praising Lord Hanuman) near the mosque but were thwarted by the security personnel.

Security was beefed up in and around the College, sources said.

Protests were also organised by the students of Kashi Vidyapeeth, a state run University in Varanasi, against what they said was disturbance caused by ‘azans’ (a call before the namaz made through the loudspeakers) at the mosques around the University. The students took out a march inside the University campus to register their protest.