Pro-Left Syndicate members to boycott honourary doctorate presentation event in Calicut varsity on October 6

Pro-Left members in the senate, Syndicate, and academic council of the University of Calicut have declared to boycott the honourary doctorate presentation ceremony scheduled for Tuesday (October 6).

Film-maker Sathyan Anthikad and industrialist P.K. Ahammed are all set to get Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) degree, while scientist E.D. Jemmis will be presented with a Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) degree at an event to be held on the main campus at Tenhipalam in Malappuram district.

M.B. Faisal, K. Mohammed Haneefa, K. Pradeep Kumar, P. Sushanth, E. Abdurahim, and P.P. Sumod, MLA, the Syndicate members, said in a press release on Monday (October 5) that their protest was against the bypassing of the senate’s powers to grant the degrees and the decision to sing Vande Mataram, the National Song, in full at the event.

They claimed that when the issue of granting honourary doctorates was taken up in the Syndicate, there was no indication of bypassing the senate. However, thereafter, special provisions were invoked, senate was bypassed, and the permission of the Chancellor was directly sought. Though the senate members expressed their dissent in writing and the Syndicate members recorded their disagreement, Vice-Chancellor (V-C) P. Raveendran chose not to give any explanation and was unwilling for talks, they alleged.

The pro-Left Syndicate members said that in the counter affidavit filed in the Kerala High Court in response to a petition filed by two senate members highlighting the above-mentioned concerns, the university had claimed that discussing the issue in the senate would be unnecessary as it could lead to media attention. This showed how anti-democratic the authorities were. Also, though the pro-Left members had urged the V-C not to sing the National Song in full at the event, their concerns were not considered.