A committee formed by Kannur University has recommended to omit some extreme communal texts and topics from the controversial syllabus prepared for a postgraduate course.
Vice Chancellor Gopinath Ravindran said a decision would be taken after the Academic Council and the Political Science Board of Studies discuss the proposals.
The course, which is available only at Brennen College, Thalassery, created a controversy following the inclusion of works of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologues Veer Savarkar, M.S. Golwalker and Deendayal Upadhyay.
The Kerala Students Union and Muslim Students Federation staged a protest against the inclusion of such works citing that there was an effort to saffronise education.
The committee, comprising expert members J. Prabhash, who is the former Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of Kerala, and Head of the Department of Political Science; K.S. Pavithran, former professor, Department of Politics, University of Calicut; and Kannur University PVC A. Sabu, submitted its report after reviewing the syllabus in five days.
The committee said that there was a flaw in the preparation of the syllabus. The panel of experts said when the new course, ‘Governance and Politics’, was introduced, the governance section was not given importance in the syllabus.
It is also understood that the committee acknowledged the allegation that in the Indian Political Thought section, Hindutva ideas got more prominence than other ideas.
When the new-generation course started, the syllabus had to be designed and examined through discussion. When the syllabus is updated, the required changes should be made in it.
The committee pointed out that Savarkar’s and other such principles have long been part of the curriculum in other universities in Kerala. It said the curriculum should be balanced at a level that reflects the pluralism of Indian thought and political ideology.
