'Marks Jihad': DU professor's slur leaves Kerala fuming. Know all about the row

A Delhi University professor's absurd 'marks jihad' slur on Kerala education board has drawn criticism from the state politicians.

Professor Rakesh Kumar Pandey, who teaches Physics at DU's Kirori Mal College, wrote a social media post pointing out that a college had to admit 26 students in a course with only 20 seats because all had 100% marks from Kerala board.

He insinuated that Kerala board is implementing #MarksJihad to push its students into DU. Pandey is also a former president of the RSS-backed National Democratic Teachers’ Front.

Congress MP from the state Shashi Tharoor lashed out at the post saying that the use of term "jihad" as a synonym for any trend one doesn't like is "exceeding all limits".

"If ‘Jihad’ means a struggle , the Kerala students scoring 100% have struggled against the odds to get to DU. This anti-Kerala bias must end now!” he tweeted.

CPM Rajya Sabha MP frok Kerala John Brittas has written to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan seeking strict action the "delinquent professor".

Student bodies of the Congress and the Left have also called for protests against Professor Pandey's remarks.

But he remain defiant. "Marks Jihad is when you misuse marks to spread Leftist ideology. For me, Leftists and Jihadis are the same,"he declared.

In recent times, Hindutva rightwing groups, who have for long raised the "love jihad" bogey to target Muslims, have expanded their vocabulary by inventing terms such as "land jihad" and "UPSC jihad".