Manipal row: Edu Minister shockingly shrugs off ...

In the video, the student can be heard saying: “26/11 was not funny. Islamic terrorism is not funny. Being a Muslim in this country and facing all of this every day is not funny...

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Only a day after a professor at Manipal Institute of Technology in Udupi district was debarred for allegedly referring to a Muslim student as ‘Kasab’, the convict of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, the Karnataka Minister of School Education has said that it is not a big issue.

Reacting to the issue which has now made national news, the minister referred to it as an unfortunate incident. “It’s an unfortunate incident but the government has taken action and the teacher has been suspended, the matter should be closed. We use the names Ravana and Shakuni very often. Why do you behave like Ravana or Shakuni?

Even in Assembly, we have spoken like this many times. It has not become an issue so far but when you speak about Kasab it becomes an issue,” Nagesh said. A video of the student calling out the professor over the incident is making the rounds on social media platforms. It is alleged that the professor called the student ‘Kasab’, making a reference to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack convict, because ‘his name sounded similar.’

After the student called the professor out, he can be seen apologising in the video that has now gone viral. In the video, the student asks “how can you pass such statements?” to the professor as his peers around him watch in silence. The student goes on to say, “26/11 is not funny, being a Muslim and facing such things in this country is not funny.”

The professor then apologises to which the boy says, “Your sorry does not change how you think or how you portray yourself here.” A statement from MIT released on Monday evening said, “The institute has already initiated an inquiry into the incident and the concerned staff has been debarred from classes till the inquiry is over.

We would like everyone to know that the institute does not condone this kind of behaviour and this isolated incident will be dealt with in accordance with the laid down policy.”