The Central University of Kerala (CUK) has refuted allegations that there is prohibition on Dalit studies in the university.
In a statement here on Saturday, the university said the academic council had decided to file a defamation petition against individuals and publishing houses that published the news with the intention of defaming the university.
The academic ambience of the CUK is Dalit-friendly and inclusive. In the entire curriculum of MA in English and Comparative Literature of the university, 51 Dalit texts are included. This is the highest in an MA English programme in India
It further said that in the Poetry course there are works of Dalit poets such as Poikayil Appachan, S. Joseph, and Meena Kandasamy. In the Drama course, there is a pro-Dalit play, Colour of Trans 2.0, conceived by the Chennai-based theatre group Panmai. There is a separate Key-word, Dalit Theatre, in the Drama course. Besides, in the course titled Society, Culture and Marginality, there are 7 Dalit texts for compulsory study. Articles by Dalit thinkers such as Susie Tharu, Satyanarayana, M. Dasan, Ravikumar, Azhagarasan, Geetha Ramaswamy, Ganesh Devi, and Sanal Mohan are being taught in this course.
