India: Trouble over university syllabus with texts of Far-Right Ideologues Golwalkar and Savarkar - Prof. Apoorvanand (September 23, 2021)

Furore over Golwalkar and Savarkar texts reveals our failure to understand purpose of syllabus and pedagogy Apoorvanand writes: A syllabus is not a set of propaganda material. When we include readings of different kinds, we expect them to be read and examined critically from all angles. Written by Apoorvanand | Updated: September 23, 2021 Kannur University has reportedly decided to drop the writings of V D Savarkar and M S Golwalkar from its master of arts course on Governance and Politics. The university had included portions from Golwalkar’s books, including Bunch of Thoughts, and Savarkar’s Hindutva: Who is a Hindu? in the syllabus of PG Governance and Politics. This course is taught only in Brennen College, under Kannur University, so the syllabus was prepared by the faculty of the Brennan College, which is how it should be. After opposition by the student wing of the Congress and the IUML, the CPM’s student wing SFI, which was earlier silent on the issue, found the readings unacceptable. The student outfits of the opposition parties agitated, alleging that the university was saffronising the syllabus by including these two ideologues of Hindutva. The state government led by the CPM sought an explanation from the university. Vice-Chancellor Gopinath Ravindran rejected the charges, saying: “The saffronisation allegation is completely baseless. If you raise such allegations against Kannur University, you can raise similar charges against Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi also. V D Savarkar is included in the syllabus of JNU also.” This is not a very sound argument. JNU cannot be a benchmark for all academic decisions. They should stand on their own merit. The VC was right to an extent when he said that the syllabus should have representation from all ideologies to allow students to study them critically with a comparative mind. But a syllabus cannot fight politics. So, the VC had to form an external expert committee, which has apparently suggested that it be removed from the third semester. This controversy reminded me of an unrelated incident. Approximately 15 years ago, when the UPA was in power and DU was looking for a new VC, I bumped into a leader of a communist party. She informed me that she had managed to stop a problematic academic from being considered for the post. How can a scholar who had made Savarkar part of the syllabus be allowed to head DU, she asked. I was dumbstruck. That having Savarkar in the PG course of political science would pollute the minds of the students was an absurd idea. [ . . . ] https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/kannur-university-syllabus-ms-golwalkar-vd-savarkar-texts-7528354/