Two questions relating to beef in a catering and hotel management paper has triggered protests at Banaras Hindu University, with some students demanding the Narendra Modi government suspend vice-chancellor Sudhir Kumar Jain.

The questions were asked in the second semester examination of the Bachelor of Vocation (Food Processing and Management) course, held on Wednesday.

The protesters, who claim they don’t belong to any student body, on Thursday threatened an agitation if the Centre delayed “punishing those responsible for trying to promote beef-eating with the help of such questions”.

The protesters have blamed the “anti-religion questions” on Jain, who had in April angered the ABVP by attending an iftar gathering on the campus, organised by teachers and students from both the Hindu and Muslim communities.

Sunder Tiwari, a senior BVoc student, said: “There were two objectionable questions in the second paper, dealing with catering technology and hotel management.”

He said the third question in the paper read: “Write a classification of beef. Define.”

He added: “Another question read: What is used in making stock? (a) Water (b) Bouillon (c) Beef broth (d) Chicken broth.”

Stock is a broth used as a cooking liquid for many dishes, particularly soups, stews and sauces.

Sources in the department of vocational courses confirmed that these two questions were asked in the said paper.

“We are preparing the students for the international job market. Obviously, we have to teach them everything, from beef to spinach,” a teacher from the department said, requesting anonymity.

Rakesh Chaturvedi, an MA history student at the university, said: “Some examinees posted the question paper on social media. We have submitted a protest letter with the VC’s office. We will decide our next course of action in a day or two.”

University registrar Arun Kumar Singh was quoted by the media as saying: “We have received a complaint and are looking into it.”

Chaturvedi said: “The VC had organised (sic) an iftar gathering on the campus in April to hurt the sentiments of the majority (community) students. Now the university is asking the students questions on beef. We will not let the VC stay here if he doesn’t apologise immediately and stop hurting our religious sentiments.”

Cow slaughter and beef-eating are illegal in Uttar Pradesh.