The autonomous Nirmala College at Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district of Kerala governed by the Syrian Catholic Diocese of Kothamangalam has withdrawn a promotional video meant to attract aspirants to its various programmes in the new academic year after the management found that it “violated the values, religious sentiments and the cultural traditions of the institution.”
The short video, nearly one-and-a-half minutes long, was released on a social media handle of the college on May 9. It featured a dream sequence set on the campus. A young man and a woman are seen holding their hands as the hit romantic Malayalam film song beginning ‘Poomaname’ is played in the background. It also showed a cover art of Malayalam romantic novel Inapravukal followed by a message that “reading opens your mind and ignites imagination.” The video ends with a message inviting applications online.
In a circular issued on May 12, Father Pius Malekandathil, manager of the college, said the short video that seemingly legitimises a lax atmosphere in the college is far from reality. “This is not Nirmala College and this is not the cultural and moral profile that we struggle hard to maintain in the college,” he said in the circular.
