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Stick to curriculum, no provocative lectures: Kerala varsity to faculty members
The Central University of Kerala said strict action would be initiated against employees who fail to follow the latest order.
The Central University of Kerala has recently issued a circular asking its faculty and staff members to refrain from making any provocative or “anti-national” lectures and statements. The university said employees should “abstain from giving any type of provocative lectures or statements that are anti-national and will be against the interests of the nation” failing which strict action would be initiated against the individuals concerned.
The circular, signed by registrar Rajendra Pilankatta of the Kasargod-based university, was issued on September 2, a report in The Indian Express said.
The move came in the wake of the suspension of an assistant professor whose comment on the Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) created a controversy earlier this year.
The professor Gilbert Sebastian had allegedly described saffron outfits and the Narendra Modi government at the Centre as proto-fascist during a lecture for first-year post-graduate students on “Fascism and Nazism” on April 19. The report said the professor of the Department of International Relations and Politics was also allegedly critical of the Union government’s decision to export Covid-19 vaccines and called the move unpatriotic.
Vice chancellor H Venkateshwarlu has said the latest directive was brought in considering previous controversies that had led to unnecessary resentment on the campus.
“We expect the faculty members to stick to their curriculum. To deviate from it and express their views or political opinions will create unnecessary resentment or friction among the students and workers,” he was quoted as saying in an article in The Hindu.
He further said students may continue to express their views and opinions on issues during open debates or seminars, but faculty members need to refrain from such acts and stick to their curriculum in classes.
Meanwhile, Gilbert, whose suspension was revoked after he offered an explanation, has reportedly written to the VC against an executive council meeting that said he had “given a letter of regret, withdrawal of the utterances he made in the class; and future assurance of not repeating.’’
Stating that the minutes on withdrawal of his suspension was unacceptable to him, the professor said, “What I had expressed in the letter was clearly a non-admission (of) regret since my views in the class have been misconstrued by others. What I withdrew was any incidental remarks. EC’s observation that my ‘statement in the class was anti-national’, (was) uncalled for and regrettable as it is an unfounded allegation.”
The executive council had earlier also expressed concern over the VC’s decision to withdraw Gilbert’s suspension order.
