In 2007, the Times of India published an article titled 'AMU: Where the degrees are sold like toffees', citing an anonymous source that degrees are distributed like toffees at the university. After this, a former student union leader filed a case on the newspaper.
New Delhi: The leading English daily Times of India (TOI) apologized for publishing derogatory and misleading articles on Aligarh Muslim University.
The newspaper filed an apology on 14 January in a civil court in Delhi. The article was published 14 years ago on 29 September 2007, with the headline, 'AMU: Where Degrees Distribute Like Toffees'. The case was filed by Farooq Khan, a former law student of the university. He was the general secretary of the Students' Union in 2005 and is currently practicing law. The article written by Akhilesh Kumar Singh was published in TOI in 2007 titled 'AMU: Where the degrees are sold like toffees'. The same year Khan graduated from the university and filed a defamation suit against the newspaper's publisher, editor and reporter. The case was resolved on 14 January, when the newspaper filed an apology in the court.However, this story has not been taken back by the newspaper and it is still available on the website of Times of India. The intro of this story states, 'Traditional Topi Sherwani has become old, similarly words like Adab and Huzoor have also become old. Hostels have become shelters for goons and education has been politicized. Welcome to AMU, one of the oldest universities in the country, which has always been in the news for the wrong reasons. ' In this story, it was said by citing an anonymous source that degrees are distributed in the university like toffees. The story said, 'A senior faculty member said on condition of confidentiality that theses and synopsis can be purchased from the Shamshad Market adjacent to the AMU campus. Nobody bothers to check their authenticity and in this way degrees are being distributed like toffees. '
Khan told The Wire that he was deeply hurt by this story and felt that a case should be filed regarding this. He said that there is a difference between freedom of expression and insult to an institution. He said, "Now he is relieved that an apology has been made." He said, 'Justice was delayed but justice was found. As a practicing lawyer, I know that there are a lot of backlogs in the court, but for this kind of redress, one should always seek legal help and all is well. He said that it is a myth that the ruling BJP government is responsible for bringing the university into disrepute. A malicious campaign was launched against the university and fascists are not the only ones responsible for it. AMU is being targeted not only by the fascists but also those who claim to be Liberals. Asked if he wanted a public apology? On this, he said that as far as the apology is concerned, I stand on my statement lodged in the court that I will not circulate the apology. Khan keeps an eye on the mainstream media and has already sent notices to many news channels.
(With input from news agency language)
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