Kannur: The Kannur University has decided to retain topics on Hindutva ideologues VD Savarkar and MS Golwalkar and add studies on Muhammed Ali Jinnah, Rammanohar Lohia and EMS Namboodiripad in its syllabus for the postgraduate course in Governance and Politics.

The university relooked the syllabus in the wake of protests alleging saffronisation of the curriculum. Protesters blamed the syllabus-making body for giving prominence to Hindutva ideology while eclipsing the teachings of nationalist leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.

The Academic Council unanimously approved the revised syllabus on Wednesday.

It was first ratified by the Board of Studies in Political Science on September 25 before sending it for the academic council

The Board of Studies had incorporated all the recommendations put forward by two external experts, Dr J Prabhash and Dr K S Pavithran, who examined the previous syllabus in the wake of protests.

What is in & what's out?

The postgraduate course in Governance and Politics is being offered only at the Government Brennen College in Thalassery.

What created the controversy was the syllabus for third semester of the course - Themes in Indian Political Thought - and its second unit titled 'Rashtra or Nation in Indian Political Thought' that had works of Hindutva ideologues VD Savarkar, MS Golwalkar, Balraj Madhok and Deendayal Upadhyaya. It also had the works of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, BR Ambedkar, Rabindranath Tagore and Sri Aurobindo.

The revised syllabus omitted works of Madhok and Upadhyay completely, but retained topics on Savarkar and Golwalkar.

It added three new topics - Muslims and Nationalism: two opposite visions (Maulana Azad and Jinnah), Dravidian nationalism (Periyar) and Socialist Perspectives on Nationalism (Rammanohar Lohia and EMS Namboodiripad).

Besides, the council renamed the unit as Nation and Nationalism in Modern Political Thought: A critique.

University Vice-Chancellor Gopinath Raveendran told Onmanorama that some of the recommendations by the expert panel have been accepted and a few other topics have been added by the board of studies. 

He hoped the controversies would end with the syllabus revision. "Protesters alleged lack of balance in the syllabus. The revised syllabus appears to be balanced. I hope there will not be any further controversies on the subject," he said.