Saturday August 16 2003 00:00 IST
Varsity's English courses to have Hindi films, PM's poems
MEERUT: The Chaudhry Charan Singh University in
Meerut has decided to withdraw the Prime Minister's translated poems and the
President's essay from the revised English syllabus for degree
courses.
The University Board of Studies, which met on Thursday, decided
to adopt the previous syllabus. The controversial portions are being removed,
university sources said on Friday.
The university stirred a hornet's nest
by deleting Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw from its revised syllabus and
including translated works of part-time poet Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and
controversial writer Salman Rushdie. As if that wasn't enough, the new syllabus
had Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita rubbing shoulders with Maxim Gorky's
Mother.
President A P J Abdul Kalam's essay ``Patriotism beyond
politics and Religion'' found a place in the new syllabus along with a study of
films like Guide, Devdas, Umrao Jaan and Pather Panchali.
While
Vice-Chancellor Dr R.P. Singh expressed surprise over the inclusion of
Vajpayee's poems, student leaders threatened to launch an
agitation.
University Campus Student Union leader Kapil Bisla alleged
that the PM's poems had been included at the behest of the RSS. Ajit Singh's
Rashtriya Lok Dal echoed the same view. The party's western UP leader Satendra
Bharala claimed that by including Vajpayee's works, the sentiments of the
dominant Muslim community were not being respected. ``Rushdie can't visit India.
So why will his works be taught at the university,'' asked Bharala.
In
his defence, Dr Bhagwat S. Goel, former head of the English Department, SD
College, who drew up the new syllabus, said that it was deliberately
broad-based. ``Till now, the syllabus has been British-oriented. An attempt has
been made to give representation to a wide range of writings.''
According
to him, the opposition to the syllabus was being orchestrated by vested inte!
rests, especially those who ran coaching centres. So far, they would m ake do
with photocopied copies of old notes, now teachers will have to update their
knowledge.
What was in, what was out
Two translated poems
of Vajpayee _ ``No war again'' and ``We shall never bend'' _ were part of the BA
syllabus. In the MA course, as many as eight poems had been included. While the
PM's poems were to be taught in the first year, Shakespeare's Twelfth
Night and Macbeth got the axe. Also discarded were George Bernard
Shaw's Arms and the Man. Also included in the MA course were Bisham
Sahni's Tamas, Amrita Pritam's Raseedi Ticket, Jawahar Lal Nehru's
biography, Salman Rushdie's The Moor and the Last Sigh.
| Saturday, August 16, 2003 | ||||
| ||||
| PM loses to Bard, Shaw | ||||
| M V R RAO | ||||
| MEERUT, AUGUST 15: The
Chaudhry Charan Singh University in Meerut has decided to withdraw the
Prime Minister’s translated poems and the President’s essay from the
revised English syllabus for degree courses.
The University Board of Studies, which met yesterday, has decided to adopt the previous syllabus. The controversial portions are being removed, university sources said today. The university stirred a hornet’s nest by deleting Shakespeare and G.B. Shaw from its revised syllabus and including translated works of part-time poet Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and controversial writer Salman Rushdie. As if that wasn’t enough, the new syllabus had Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita rubbing shoulders with Maxim Gorky’s Mother. President Kalam’s essay ‘‘Patriotism beyond politics and Religion’’ found a place in the new syllabus along with a study of films like Guide, Devdas, Umrao Jaan and Pather Panchali. While university Vice-Chancellor Dr R.P. Singh expressed surprise over the inclusion of Vajpayee’s poems, student leaders threatened to launch an agitation. University Campus Student Union leader Kapil Bisla alleged that the PM’s poems had been included at the behest of the RSS. Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal echoed the same view. The party’s western UP leader Satendra Bharala claimed that by including Vajpayee’s works, the sentiments of the dominant Muslim community were not being respected. ‘‘Rushdie can’t visit India. So why will his works be taught at the university,’’ asked Bharala. In his defence, Dr Bhagwat S. Goel, former head of the English Department, SD College, who drew up the new syllabus, said that it was deliberately broad-based. ‘‘Till now, the syllabus has been British-oriented. An attempt has been made to give representation to a wide range of writings.’’ According to him, the opposition to the syllabus was being orchestrated by vested interests, especially those who ran coaching centres. So far, they would make do with photocopied copies of old notes, now teachers will have to update their knowledge. | ||||
|
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=29728 |