Exactly an year after a college of the Cochin University in Kerala made national headlines when a group of north Indian students alleged they were deliberately fed beef cutlets, the institution is again facing the ire of Hindutva supporters.
This time, the controversy is over a demand to conduct Saraswati Puja on the campus premises.
On Thursday, a letter from the registrar of Cochin University to the principal of Cochin University College of Engineering Kuttanad (CUCEK) was being circulated on social media. The letter informs the vice-chancellor had declined permission to a request by a group of north Indian students to perform Saraswati Puja on the CUCEK campus on the grounds that it was a “secular” institution.
The letter has, predictably, triggered outrage among members of the Hindu rightwing on social media.
In late January of 2018, the CUCEK campus briefly saw suspension of classes following scuffles between groups of North Indian and Malayali students. The scuffles were triggered by allegations by the north Indian students that they were deliberately served beef cutlets on the sidelines of a seminar at the campus. The students claimed they were assured the cutlets were vegetarian.
The complainants, who were reportedly associated with the ABVP, had also alleged that the CUCEK principal, Sunil Kumar N., had offended their religious sensitivities. In 2018 also, the north Indian students alleged they were denied permission to conduct Saraswati Puja at the CUCEK campus.
The principal had dismissed the claims of the north Indian students on the grounds that the seminar where the cutlets was served was organised by an external agency.