I can share this because this because happened in private outside class. This ▮▮▮ professor has a habit of blaming India for the Kashmir problem and rants against “Hindu fundamentalism”. I met him outside class and asked him whether he felt Islamic fundamentalism was blameless. I made the point that jihadis in Kashmir are brainwashed at madrassas run by the likes of Hafiz Sayeed and taught to hate non-Muslims. I said that the same problem is now being manifested in Bangladesh. He smirked at me and said that I don’t have a basic understanding of history and I am “uneducated”. He said I should go to a library and read basic history before speaking to him. He said I was “parroting BJP talking points”.

It’s disgusting that professors have such intolerance towards students who disagree with their viewpoint and who are not their groupies.

Its honestly expected to expect that academia would be left-wing, especially with how bjp and their lot talk about education. That still doesn't justify how smug and idiotic these lefty professors are. I've had alot of great professors with whom I could talk about law/philosophy over and it made me actually understand with their points to an extent. People need to realise that answering questions with smugness and belittling the curious only leads to a wider ideological divide, apparent with both the left and the right in modern politics/academia by extension.

Nothing new. Some professors used to be like that during my law school days too. These professors are like normal human beings (some are good and some are bad). You must stay away from bad ones as much as possible. There is no point in arguing or trying to impress these people (unless it is for the sake of grades).

I am in academia. One of the best advice a now-retired professor gave me was - if your first instinct is to belittle the person asking the question, by perhaps saying something along the lines of - oh, do you not even know this; this is so easy; go read some more before coming to talk to me; among other kinds of dissmive remarks, you are the problem. In such scenarios, it is very likely that you are unclear or cannot explain your position in simple terms, which is your duty and responsibility as a professor. I personally do not know how much this applies to your scenario, but I wanted to share his advice.

Your professor should not be calling you uneducated, even though you are in fact in a relationship in which he is supposed to be educating you, not the other way around. It sounds like you went looking to provoke so that you could then malign the professor to everyone. You can't change impulsive professors but if you are interested in learning from them instead of performing politics (even if that is what they are doing), then you can ask questions that come from genuine curiosity, not a desire to make points. You could have asked him how to compare islamic fundamentalism and hindu fundamentalism and why some people blame one while others blame the other. College is not an NDTV debate. You have an opportunity to learn, but no one can force you.

Your professors should not be ridiculing you but we don't know the context. Did you go and try to start debating him without an appointment? What was your tone? Maybe you should think about your own motivations in starting the exchange. A good education changes how you see the world. Sometimes it shows you that you are right about certain things. But if you are afraid of being wrong and want to attack instead of learning, then you will not learn. It is not your job to decide what the professor should or should not do. It is your job to decide whether you can have the kind of conversation that will allow you to learn as much as possible from him.