Amid saffronisation charges against NIT Calicut, professor courts controversy over pro-Godse comment

Kozhikode: Dr. Shaija Andavan, a professor at Kozhikode NIT, who had left a ‘pro-Godse’ comment beneath a post on a social media platform, later on, deleted her comment after being widely criticised for her ‘act’. 

"Proud of Godse for Saving India,” is the comment that Shaija Andavan made under the photo of Godse posted from an account named ‘Advocate Krishna Raj’. The photo of the Hindu Mahasabha worker was uploaded with a caption hailing him as a hero to several people in the country. 

After facing the ire of netizens, the professor quickly deleted her comment. “My job is to teach. I don’t have any political allegiance. I am not here to play politics as well,” the professor told mathrubhumi.com.

“See I have read the article on ‘Why Nathuram Killed Gandhi’. It is on the basis of the knowledge that I garnered that I made a ‘pro-Godse’ comment under a post in a profile named Advocate Krishna Raj. I never thought the incident would spark a controversy of this level. I am saddened by the developments,” she further explained.

It should be noted that the NIT Calicut had witnessed raging protests by student groups on Thursday for revoking the suspension of Vysakh Premkumar, a fourth-year student in the Electronics and Telecommunications department at the institute. Vyshakh was punished for protesting against celebrations on the campus in connection with Ayodhya Ram Temple consecration on January 22 earlier this year.

The students' outrage finally bore fruit when the authorities finally decided to revoke the suspension handed out to the Vysakh.     

On the day of the temple consecration, a group of students allegedly attacked another group of students who exhibited placards reading "India is not Rama-Rajyam" on campus. The group raising 'Jai Shree Ram' slogans allegedly attacked students' union representative Kailaas and the fourth-year student, Vysakh. After the episode, the Dean of the respective department at NIT suspended Vyshak giving way to conflicts in the campus.

In the backdrop of the events, SFI, KSU, Fraternity Movement and NIT students union had accused the institute officials of trying to saffronise the campus.

Things were slowly setting down and Shaija Andavan’s comments have once sparked debates on the allegiance of certain college staff to extreme right-wing ideologies.

The comment made by the professor of one of the premium institutes in the country has now sparked larger debates on the saffronisation of campuses in the country.