Kerala prof challenges his sacking before tribunal

Kerala-based college lecturer T J Joseph, whose hand was chopped off by activists of an radical outfit for setting a controversial question paper, filed an appeal before the university tribunal on Tuesday against his dismissal from service by the management of Newman College of Thodupuzha run by the Catholic church.

In his plea filed before the university appellate tribunal at Thiruvananthapuram, Joseph held that he had been denied justice as the action was taken without hearing his side of the story. He also denied the charge that he had set the question paper with malaise to hurt the sentiments of a particular community.

The tribunal has posted hearing on the plea for Wednesday. Joseph, who was teaching Malayalam literature, was first suspended from service after a question paper set by him for an internal examination sparked off strong protests from Muslim outfits, which alleged it contained derogatory references to Prophet Muhammad.

The case took a shocking turn in July whne a group of suspected activists of the Popular Front of India attacked him and chopped off his right hand. Though the attack earned sympathy for Joseph, the case took another twist with the college authorities sacking him before he fully recovered from the attack, on the grounds that the question paper set by him created communal tensions and it ran against the tradition and principles upheld by the college.

Even as the syndicate of the Kottayam-based Mahatma Gandhi University, to which the college was affiliated, directed the management to re-instate Joseph, the management refused to budge. The church also issued a circular to be read out before the congregations justifying the action taken against the lecturer.