A woman, awarded post-doctoral fellowship on the novels of controversial author Salman Rushdie, has decided not to go ahead with it following objections from Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband.
Prabha Parmar -- doing research work on novels of Salman Rushdie, Amitabh Ghosh and Vikram Seth - in a letter to Chaudhary Charan Singh University Vice Chancellor on Thursday has requested permission to change the topic, saying she did "not want to hurt the sentiments of any community or bring the reputation of the varsity at stake".
The university has confirmed the receipt of the letter. Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband had criticised the university for awarding research works on Rushdie's novels and said they will oppose any study on the controversial author's novel.
Following the controversy, the university cancelled her post-doctoral fellowship on the topic 'Use of Magic Realism in the Major Novels of Salman Rushdie, Amitabh Ghosh and Vikram Seth'. However, it cited another reason for cancelling her research topic.
Arun Kumar, a professor of English Department in CCSU, said her research work was cancelled as she did not start the work in the given time period due to some medical reasons.