The Kannur University’s (KU) decision to include the autobiography of Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leader and former Health Minister K.K. Shailaja, MLA, has triggered a controversy.
The varsity has incorporated a chapter from the book, My Life as a Comrade, in the revised MA English Language course syllabus.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said the university’s decision “symbolised the rot” that has wormed into the higher education sector under the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.
Earlier, Mr. Satheesan said the varsity had dubiously introduced divisive books by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologues into the college curriculum.
He alleged that most State universities and colleges lacked full-time Vice-Chancellors and Principals. The crisis has affected students and parents the most.
Mr. Satheesan said he had not read Ms. Shailaja’s book and was hard-pressed to comment on its scholastic quality.
The pro-Congress Kerala Private College Teachers’ Association (KPCTA) and the Kerala Students Union (KSU) have criticised the move. Both saw the action as part of the CPI(M)‘s entrenched bid to politicise the higher education sector.
KPCTA regional committee president P. Shino Jose accused KU Vice-Vhancellor Gopinath Ravindran of arbitrarily and illegally constituting ad-hoc committees populated by CPI(M) persons to reframe the curriculum to suit the party’s political agenda.
The KPCTA said the committees sought to terminate independent learning, stifle the spirit of enquiry and deny students the intellectual latitude to appreciate subjects critically.
Mr. Jose said the Vice-Chancellor’s constitution of the ad-hoc committees for curriculum revision violated the Kerala High Court’s order. The High Court had ordered the reconstitution of the Board of Studies after it ruled that many members had no basic qualifications. The Chancellor and Governor Arif Mohammed Khan was on the task, he said.
However, the KU has jumped the gun by constituting impromptu committees without consultation, proper application of mind or discussion, Mr. Jose alleged.
The Muslim Students Federation (MSF) State committee has appealed to the Chancellor to review the controversial curriculum content, including the contentious inclusion of the politician’s autobiography.
KU denies charges
Meanwhile, the KU sought to end the controversy by denying accusations of political indoctrination and bias. It clarified that life writing, including biography, autobiography, memoirs, letters, diaries, anthropological data and personal journals, was an elective subject.
Ms. Shailaja’s autobiography is one of many such books the varsity recommended for general reading of students who chose the particular trajectory of higher learning. Books and memoirs by noted local personages were necessary for students to understand the socio-political evolution of North Malabar, it said.
(with input from Kannur bureau)
