Thiruvananthapuram: Inclusion of writer Arundhati Roy’s essay ‘Çome September’ by the Calicut University in their BA English third semester’s core paper had sparked controversy. The BJP has now taken it up with Governor and Chancellor Arif Muhammad Khan demanding its removal, due to anti-national elements in it.
BJP state president K Surendran said, ” The essay is taken from a speech delived by Ms Roy in the United States in 2002, challenging the government’s policies and India’s constitution. Dsicontent is brewing amongst academics and the general public against the inclusion of this speech which is anti-national and portrays our country in a bad light,” he said in the letter.
“Ms Roy was introduced by the textbook’s editors Murugan Babu and Abida Farooqi as the sane voice who spoke out against the hanging of Afzal Guru. The hanging was termed as a dark chapter in the history of our republic,” he added.
“The textbook claims to introduce the students to different styles of prose. But this rabble-rousing speech is nothing but cheap rhetoric. And the reasons for including this incendiary speech is questionable. The students have been forced to learn a speech given to an anti-India audience against the Kargil war. This is akin to insulting those brave soldiers who gave up their lives to protect our territorial integrity,” K Surendran said.
“I want to bring to your notice the plight of our students. They are forced to study writings against our nuclear test and building of our dams. I humbly request you to remove the said text from the syllabus and take action against those who forced the students to learn this anti-national speech,” the letter added.
