ALIGARH: Vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University Zameeruddin Shah has banned The Times of India in the campus. At the oath-taking ceremony of the varsity's students union (AMUSU) on Thursday, Shah, who was at the centre of a huge storm triggered by his remark that the Maulana Azad Library would remain out of bounds for undergraduate girl students as it was already cramped for space, made the announcement and spoke of its implementation.

Asked about it, AMU's public relations officer Rahat Abrar said on Friday that the "ban" comes in the wake of demands from some students upset with the report. "There will be no copies of The Times of India in any of our offices or departments," he said.

Quizzed on the Allahabad High Court order on the issue, clearly a rap on Shah's knuckles, Abrar said, "We will take the orders of the high court as we are supposed to, and give a reply on the date set."

Back in the campus, girl students of the Women's College were "happy" at the HC order but were cautious in their interactions with TOI. Student after student asked not to be named while being quoted. One of them said, "If we have hope of entering MAL (Maulana Azad Library), this is great news. If not, at least we should have an office of the library within our campus, so we can make demands for books that will be delivered to us in 24 hours."

A faculty member of AMU, also wishing to remain unnamed, said, "This is sad. TOI raised the issue and got it noticed, and now the university is shooting the messenger."