T’PURAM / KANNUR: The Save University Forum (SUF) has sought the state governor’s intervention to ensure that former health minister K K Shailaja’s memoirs is not included in the MA English syllabus of the University of Kannur.
In a memorandum, the forum urged Arif Mohammed Khan to cancel the book from the elective category of the first semester.
The students’ wing of the Congress also took issue. The KSU’s vice president, Muhammed Shammas, held a press conference at Indira Bhavan against the move to make the book part of the curriculum. The fact that the former minister’s memoirs share space with books by Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and B. R. Ambedkar has irked SUF the most.
Shailaja’s recently released memoir, ‘My Life as a Comrade’, was edited by Manju Sarah Rajan, CEO of Kochi Biennale.
Kannur University vice-chancellor Gopinath Raveendran had constituted the board of studies without the consent of the governor, SUF office-bearers R S Sasikumar and Shajar Khan alleged.
“The vice-chancellor constituted an ad hoc committee that allowed him to include Shailaja’s memoir in the syllabus along with books by Gandhiji, Ambedkar and Nelson Mandela,” they said.
They said that by including her book along with ‘My Experiments with Truth’, the university is defaming Gandhiji.
“According to the university, colleges can decide whether to include elective courses in the syllabus. If elective courses are included, teachers should teach books in the core reading section. Many colleges have already selected the course which includes the book by Shailaja,” said Sasikumar.
In the same module, there is a ‘self-reading’ section, which includes books by Mandela, V T Bhattathiripad and Mayilamma.
“The book was included based on the firm belief that life stories of personalities from Malabar, especially women, should be part of the syllabus,” said Pramod Vellachal, convenor of the curriculum committee and syndicate member.
“This is not a book on CPM or its ideology. Moreover, it’s an elective course. If colleges take a decision not to include it, they have the right to leave it out,” he said.
The syllabus was published only two weeks into the new semester. It was prepared by a team of eight ad hoc committee members and 10 specially invited teachers. It was after a gap of nine years that the syllabus of PG courses at Kannur University was revised.
“Shailaja’s memoirs have been included in the compulsory learning category and not as an elective learning paper. The governor should intervene in this issue and take corrective steps,” KSU state president Aloysius Xavier told TNIE.
Not keen on having book in syllabus, says Shailaja
Former health minister K K. Shailaja expressed concern over the controversy in connection with the inclusion of her memoirs, ‘My Life as a Comrade’, in the curriculum of the MA English course of Kannur University.
In a statement, she said she came to know about the inclusion of the book through a TV news channel. “After I heard the news, I called up university officials. They informed me that the book is not part of the syllabus and was included in the core-reading section along with the book of C K Janu,” she said.
“I made it clear that I was not interested in including my book in any category. Nobody sought my consent,” the Mattannur MLA said. “My book is not a biography. It is written as a memoir. I have given a brief account of the discrimination faced by previous generations. The fight against caste discrimination and the progressive movements that helped society to move ahead are depicted in the first half of the book. I also recount my experiences as health minister, which was eventful, considering the Nipah and Covid crises,” she said.