Thrissur: The row over plagiarising a poem is yet to settle down even after public apologies were issued by the duo in the dock. Though reports said activists Deepa Nisanth and Sreechithran M J, who apologised, have been excluded from the public meet scheduled on Tuesday at Thekkinkad Maidan here, its organisers denied any such move.
The event, titled Janabhimana Sangaman, is being organised by a committee with author Sara Joseph as chairperson and lyricist C Ravunni as convenor. Ravunni said that Deepa and Sreechithran have not been excluded from the programme. “There is no move in this regard. Both Deepa and Sreechithran were invited to the event before the row over the poem broke out. They have not contacted us after that. The organisers have not asked any invited person to keep off the event,” he explained.
Deepa, a writer who teaches at Kerala Varma College in Thrissur, had earlier apologised for her role in the affair. In a Facebook post, Deepa said that she herself was responsible for each word published in her name.
Sreechithran also sought forgiveness from S Kalesh, who wrote the original poem, for the humiliation and pain suffered by him. However, Kalesh replied that instead of apologies, they should reveal who was the real culprit.
The controversy was sparked by Kalesh’s allegation that Deepa had plagiarised his poem and made a crude imitation. Kalesh had originally published the poem with the title ‘Anganeyirikke marichupoyi njan/nee’ (Then one day, I/you met with death) on his blog on March 4, 2011. Later, it appeared in a magazine also.
The same poem was published in the magazine of All-Kerala Private College Teachers’ Association (AKPCTA) with the title ‘Anganeyirikke’ giving credit to Deepa and carrying her photo. This led to the row.
Though Deepa initially denied the charges, she later apologised. Deepa claimed she was made to believe that the poem was not Kalesh’s, but added that she was not in a position to reveal more about the matter.
There were allegations that it was Sreechithran who copied the poem for Deepa. AKPCTA office-bearers confirmed that it was Deepa who had sent them the poem.