Modi govt turns down request to award Shahrukh Khan honorary degree

NEW DELHI: India’s Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) has rejected a request by Jamia Millia Islamia University Delhi to confer upon Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan an honorary doctorate, ARY News reported.

According to details, Khan had been a postgraduate student of Mass Communication at the said university but had not completed his education.

The HRD ministry, formerly the Ministry of Education, turned down the request made by the Jamia. Neither the university nor the ministry immediately disclosed the reasons.

However, when an Indian newspaper filed a right-to-information (RTI) request, the university in its statement said that it was true that the university had written to HRD ministry for conferring upon Khan an honorary doctorate, however, the department did not agree because the famed actor had already received an honorary degree from Maulana Azad National Urdu University in 2016.

The ministry officials, on the other hand, maintained that no fixed rule limited the number of honorary degrees that can be conferred upon individuals. It, however, added that the practice was ‘discouraged’.

It is worthwhile to note that following the Pulwama attack, Muslims, especially Kashmiris in India or those having any real or alleged links to Pakistan are being made a target of hate speech and violence.

Across the country, Kashmiri students are facing evictions from residencies and job losses. In some places, they have even been subjected to torture.

Even the influential Bollywood stars that happen to be Muslims face immense pressure from jingoistic quarters in India as the elections approach or when India escalates tension against Pakistan.