Everyone should read Prophet Muhammad: Dr L Hanumanthaiah
Bengaluru, November 18: Rajya Sabha Member and writer Dr L Hanumanthaiah said that people from all languages and religions should read Prophet Muhammad who advocated the message of peace as people who have not read the Prophet might misunderstand the religion.
Speaking at a programme organized to release books - Prophet Muhammad (collection of articles of writers), Prophet Muhammad (Prophet in the eyes of world scholars), organized by the Shanti Publications at Kannada Sahitya Parishat here on Sunday, he said that the Prophet Muhammad had advocated a message to the world for the peace and survival of mankind. So, not only Muslim community, but the people from all languages and religions should read the Prophet. The Prophet had said that Jihad means fighting against desire and luxury. But nowadays, jihad means creating fear among people. In the name of jihad, terrorism was dominating the world making the life of people hell, he said.
Some people have been appeasing the minorities keeping the Supreme Court verdict on Talaq and they have been doing politics in allowing the women into the Sabarimala temple which is ridiculous. The efforts of using the religion as a political pawn were there in all times. So, there was a need to disclose the truth of a religion. In view of this, Prophet Muhammad should be taken to the people, he said.
Writer Shakira Khanum said that in the book Prophet Muhammad (Prophet in the eyes of world scholars), opinions of total 25 philosophers of the world including five from India including Gandhi, Vivekananda and Sarojini Naidu were collected. The Prophet had said that ‘God means seeing ourselves’, she said.
Senior journalist NS Shankar, Muhammad Kunhi, Shanti Publication president Mohammad Attarulla Sharif and others were present.
“Woman is also has life. She also has dreams of leading her life independently. Understanding this, Prophet Muhammad had given rights to them. The Prophet had given message to the world that good will win over the evil and truth will win over the lies at any time. Apart from this, he had introduced the moral strength to the society. He was in favour of showing concerns and mercy to the enemies. So these two books will help to reach the message of such a personality to the people”.
- Shakira Khanum, Writer
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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