Calicut University is contemplating disciplinary action against E. Sreekumaran, Reader at the Department of Life Sciences, for addressing students during their protracted strike in connection with the hostel issue.
Action against Dr. Sreekumaran is one of the agenda of the Syndicate meeting to be held on Saturday. Vice Chancellor M. Abdul Salam is reported to have favoured disciplinary action against him.
Teachers protest
Teachers on the campus, meanwhile, protested against the university for vindictive action against Dr. Sreekumaran, one of the well known stem cell researchers in the country.
His research had won the praise of the NAAC accreditation committee which visited the campus a few years ago.
Complaint filed
Dr. Sreekumaran, who did his post-doctoral research at Nebraska University, USA, has complained to the State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes against the Vice Chancellor for refusing to declare his probation even after five years of his appointment as associate professor.
Deforestation
Dr. Sreekumaran alleged that the university authorities were vengeful against him for criticising them for undertaking deforestation on the campus.
He had taken a class to the striking students on the impact of deforestation on air pollution, which apparently provoked the authorities, he said.
Association of Calicut University Teachers alleged that the university was moving to destroy the academic future of a brilliant Dalit scientist.
