"For almost 30 years, a Hindu man headed a department which covered the Urdu, Farsi and Arabic languages. In fact, he even had a degree which allowed him to teach the Koran," Aftab Ahmad Afaqi, head of the Urdu department, said.

"The Urdu department also has Hindu professors. Religion and language are two totally different things," he added.

Students have stopped protesting on campus - but they say that they will continue to boycott classes until the professor has been dismissed.