New Delhi, An alumnus and donor of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Prof. Jasim Mohammad, has written a letter to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, raising serious concerns over the alleged harassment and institutional marginalisation of a senior hindu woman professor, Prof. Rachana Kaushal, and accusing the university’s top leadership of “grave administrative abdication and moral collapse.”
In the letter, Prof. Jasim Mohammad, has directly named AMU Vice-Chancellor Naima Khatoon, holding her responsible for failing to act on a formal complaint submitted in September 2025 by Prof. Kaushal. He alleges that despite the seriousness of the allegations—ranging from denial of statutory rights and professional humiliation to exclusion from academic bodies and communal prejudice—the university administration remained silent and attempted to bury the issue, thereby damaging the credibility and public image of Aligarh Muslim University.
Referring specifically to Prof. Rachana Kaushal’s complaint September 2025, the alumnus describes it as emblematic of a deeper rot within the university. According to the letter, the complaint details deliberate professional marginalisation, denial of statutory entitlements, sustained humiliation, and communal targeting—charges serious enough, he argues, to warrant immediate intervention and an independent inquiry. “The Vice-Chancellor did none of this,” the letter notes, adding that inaction has emboldened misconduct rather than curbed it.
The letter further argues that such matters should have been resolved internally through transparent and fair academic processes.
Placing the issue in a wider context, Prof. Jasim Mohammad states that since June 2017—and with increasing intensity in recent years—AMU has become an environment marked by fear, anxiety, and psychological trauma for both teachers, employees and students. “In such an atmosphere, how can the ideals of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 be realised?” the letter asks, warning that an institution paralysed by mistrust cannot educate a confident and innovative generation.
He has urged the Ministry of Education to constitute a high-level, independent committee to examine governance failures at AMU, with a specific mandate to assess fear, anxiety, and institutional trust on campus.
