FIR against ex-DU professor for hurting sentiments of Hindus

Udaipur, Dec 9: An FIR has been registered against a former Delhi University Professor for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of Hindus during his lecture at Mohanlal Sukhadia University here.

Ashok Vohra, retired professor and the former head of Philosophy department of DU, however, said he only referred to foreign authors' views on Hindu God and Goddess and "they were not my words".

The FIR was lodged last night against Vohra, who had given a lecture on 'Religious Dialogue - Need of the Hour' on December 3, based on a complaint by an ABVP activist -- Devendra Singh, police said today. "The complainant alleged that Vohra made derogatory remarks against Hindu God and Goddess during his lecture.

A case has been registered and the matter is being probed," Investigating Officer Jagdish Chandra, Pratap Nagar police station, said. Vohra has been booked under sections 295 (insulting religion) and 153(a) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion etc).

"In my lecture, I referred to foreigners' view on Hindu God and Goddess and it was a written presentation. The portion some people objected to was purely a translation of some foreign authors. Those were not my views," Vohra told PTI. "I just translated their writing in Hindi, presented and quoted them in my lecture to show how foreigners analyze Hinduism.

Some audience misinterpreted the references," he said. When he came to know about the protest of the ABVP, Vohra wrote a letter to Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on December 6 drawing her attention towards the issue.

"They were not my words. I just made a reference to foreign authors. I would request the state Government to form a panel to examine the matter and if anything wrong is found on my part, I would apologise," he said.

PTI