Overview

• An expert committee has recommended dropping Vedan’s rap “Bhoomi Njan Vaazhunna Idam” and Gowry Lekshmi’s modern Kathakali rendition from the fourth-semester BA Malayalam syllabus after complaints by Chancellor-appointed syndicate members.
• General Education Minister V. Sivankutty publicly condemned the recommendation as part of a Sangh Parivar effort to saffronise higher education and questioned the committee’s legality.
• Vice-Chancellor P. Raveendran asked former department head M. M. Basheer to review objections to the comparative music module, which also includes Michael Jackson’s “They Don’t Care About Us.”
• A July 19 Senate meeting turned chaotic as pro-Left and pro-Congress/IUML members clashed over the song removals and broader campus governance concerns.
• The University of Calicut’s Board of Studies and academic council will vote today on whether to exclude the contemporary and marginalized musical works.