Following protests and backlash from a local student body named Jaintia Students Union (JSU), the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Meghalaya has decided to remove an idol of Hindu God Ganesha from the institute's campus, reports Hindustan Times.
The idol was installed at the campus of the Shillong-based institution on 23 September and is now set to be removed just over a week later. However, the JSU was strongly opposed to the installation of a religious idol.
Thus, on 26 September, the JSU wrote a letter to the director of the institute, Bibhuti Bhusan Biswal which read, "The union strongly opposes the idea of installing religious idol in the institution and we strongly urge the administrative level to cancel out the idea of installing the idol of Lord Ganesha."
JSU had opined that the installation of a bust of a religious idol could spark communal tensions and suggested that the bust of some renowned personality from the field of science, arts, and literature be installed instead.
It should be noted that as per the 2011 census, over 74 per cent of the total population in Meghalaya are Christians. Also, the state has three major tribes, one of which is Jaintia, which the JSU hails from.
