The Central University of Kerala’s order withdrawing of the suspension of Dr Gilbert Sebastian must be welcomed. We spent the last month cr...
The Central University of Kerala’s order withdrawing of the suspension of Dr Gilbert Sebastian must be welcomed. We spent the last month criticising the university’s decision to suspend Sebastian after complaints were filed against him for sharing views in class that were critical of the current Central government. He and his students were discussing fascism and its various historical avatars.
In his online Power Point presentation, he spoke about India’s ruling party and its ideology. In the times that we live in, we can heave a sigh of relief that Sebastian was spared further harassment. His expression of regret for the embarrassment that his actions might have caused the university should not be treated as an admission of guilt nor should those who levelled the charges against him feel vindicated. Sebastian should not have undergone such harassment for simply performing his duty as a teacher.
Action was taken against Sebastian after an agitation launched by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is also part of the Sangh. In addition, A Vinod Karuvarakundu, a member of the National Monitoring Committee on Education under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, wrote a complaint to...
