Savarkar's book in syllabus, saffronisation of education: Kerala students' union

Opposition students organizations in Kerala on Thursday protested Kannur University's decision to include portions of books of RSS leader MS Golwalkar and Hindu Mahasabha leader VD Savarkar in its postgraduate course.

As per a report by The Indian Express, the decision has kicked up a controversy with the students' outfits alleging that the ruling CPI(M) was helping in saffronising education in Kerala.

The row is over the syllabus of MA Governance and Politics, in which extracts from Savarkar's "Hindutva: Who is a Hindu", and from Golwalkar's "Bunch of Thoughts" and "We or Our Nationhood Defined", were included. Portions from Deendayal Upadhyaya's "Integral Humanism" and Balraj Madhok's "Indianisation: What, Why and How" also figure in the syllabus.

As per reports, the syllabus was not prepared by the Board of Studies but by teachers of Thalassery Brennen College and it was decided by the Vice-Chancellor, they alleged. The MA Governance and Politics is taught only in Brennen College under Kannur University.

The University has not reacted to the allegations.

Meanwhile, Youth Congress state vice-president Rijil Makkutty, who addressed the protest meeting, said this showed that RSS agents were controlling the higher education sector in Kerala.

"We would continue to protest against the saffronisation of higher education under Pinarayi Vijayan government," he said.

Kannur University V-C Prof Gopinath Ravindran rejected the allegation of saffronisation. "We have included the works of Gandhiji, Nehru, Ambedkar and Tagore. And the syllabus included the works of Savarkar and Golwalkar. Let students learn and understand the basic text behind all ideologies," he said. "What they [Savarkar and Golwalkar] stated is part of current Indian politics. What's wrong with learning that?"