A few days ago, the Indian Institute of Mass Communication appointed a new professor. Anil Kumar Saumitra who has joined the premier media and communication institute had reportedly been selected from over 60 people who had been interviewed, and appointed on October 26. According to an Indian Express report, the IIMC had offered him a position, beginning with a two year probationary period.
This is however not the first time Saumitra has made headlines over the last couple of years. A BJP leader and party spokesperson from Madhya Pradesh, he had been suspended in 2019. This came after Saumitra, in a Facebook post, referred to Mahatma Gandhi as the "father of Pakistan".
"Pakistan was born with the blessings of Bapu, therefore, Mahatma Gandhi can be called the father of Pakistan and not of India," he had written on a Facebook post on May 16, 2019. The BJP acted swiftly, suspending him from primary membership of the party within a day, and asking him to reply within a week.
For the unitiated, the Indian Institute of Mass Communication is run by the autonomous IIMC Society and if funded by the Government of India through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It currently has IAS officer Amit Khare as its Chairperson. He is the Secretary, Higher Education and has the additional charge of Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Journalist and author Sanjay Dwivedi is the Director General of IIMC.
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