When the LDF came to power in 2006 it was frantically looking a vice chancellor for the Calicut University who would fit into their scheme of things. The condition was that the person should be a Muslim woman.
After considerable deliberations, the CPM zeroed in on Dr Maria Dossal, the then professor at Mumbai University. She agreed to accept the offer initially, but later withdrew after she came to know about the political climate in the university.
Such is the reputation Calicut University has among the academic circles in the country. Over-politicisation has ruined the academic pursuits of the institution that caters to the higher education needs of four districts in the state.
The situation is polarised campus that no one can have an independent existence without being a part of a lobby. The CPM has its employees union (Calicut University Employees Union) and Calicut University Staff Association (CUSO) for the Congress. Solidarity is the pro-IUML staff organisation on the campus.
Association of Calicut University Teachers is the teachers’ out of the LDF while the Calicut University Teachers Association represents the interests of the pro-UDF teaching staff.
The CPM had its own restaurant, which was closed down recently. To counter this, Congress has its own hotel Mala, named after the pet constituency of the legendary Congress leader late K. Karunakaran.
The political division is taken to absurd level by the parties by setting up separate kindergartens for their kids. The Artasia is the Congress kindergarten while the CPM has Rachana school.
The staff associations are so powerful that they can even hold to ransom the interests of the students.
The vice chancellors, who are basically political appointees, often become mute spectators to episodes that unfold in front of their eyes. Most often it is the association leaders who run the show, making a the VC post a kind of rubber stamp.
Too much politicisation, no academics
“Now, my academic career is in peril. I cannot apply for a project. I cannot take a PhD. student. My probation has not been declared, my UGC pay revision has not been implemented. We should not be given an NOC or experience certificate. It is a blatant violation of my fundamental rights and the university shall be liable for the damage caused to my reputation and the anguish to my family.”
The above statement was made by a professor of Calicut University, who resigned his job as a staff researcher in AIST Japan and joined the Department of Chemistry in 2005.
The experience of Dr Raveendran speaks volumes about the extent of politicisation in academic matters in the university.
More than 10 teachers from different departments of Calicut University are facing the same situation as the one described above. The majority, who are internationally renowned researchers and scientists, are getting ready to leave the university, as they are still being tormented by the university authorities for various politically motivated reasons.
Dr Raveendran got his PhD. from IIT Madras. He has also worked in Goettingen, Germany and the University of North Carolina, USA.
He joined Calicut University in 2005, but in 2007, a specially-appointed committee of the nominated syndicate appointed by the LDF government cancelled the appointments of more than 30 teachers including Raveendran, made by the previous UDF-dominated syndicate, pointing out irregularities in the appointment. Teachers alleging that the nominated syndicate had constituted a subcommittee with a clear objective of annulling the appointment by the previous syndicate.
Dr Lazer, Reader who was a post-doctoral fellow in the university of Texas, USA, and joined the University on the same date, is also facing discrimination from the university authorities. Even though Lazer is well-known among international academicians, the university says his academic achievement was not good!
The legal battle between the teachers and the University is still going on and the teachers are being denied their salary and other perks.
