Universities in the State, once famous for their quality, have fallen into an abyss from where it is difficult to salvage their dignity
The acronym MA stands for Master of Arts, a postgraduate degree awarded by universities across the world in literature, humanities or arts. Some universities offer an M A degree in Mathematics. But if the trend in Kerala is any indication, the term M A stands for Material Alteration. The last name is a phrase from the Negotiable Instruments Act that governs rules and regulations dealing with the acceptability of Bank cheques.
One is likely to ask what Material Alteration has to do with the postgraduate degrees awarded by the universities in Kerala. The sad fact is that the universities in the State, well known once for their standards and etiquettes have fallen into an abyss from where it is difficult to salvage their dignity and quality. The last 14 days saw more than six cases of students fabricating fake M-A, M.Com and Ph D Degrees from various colleges that come under the jurisdiction of Kerala University and Mahatma Gandhi University.
All the students were leaders and activists of the Students Federation of India (the students’ wing of the CPI-M) and the fabrication of the counterfeit and fake degrees was done with the connivance of the party bosses. R Bindu, Kerala’s Minister for Higher Education, whose academic and professional qualifications themselves were under the shadows of clouds, came out in the open and declared that these were isolated incidents to which one need not give any importance. M V Govindan, the party’s Kerala secretary, issued a stern warning to the media persons asking them not to write anything against the SFI or the CPI-M. This has been the practice of the CPI-M when the party finds the going tough. Way back in 1982, when E K Nayanar was the chief minister with the support extended by the A K Antony faction of the Congress, a similar incident happened. The CPI-M which has an inherent hatred for the Congress wanted to do away with the Congress in the State once and for ever. The party unleashed a reign of terror across Kerala, physically assaulting the Congress leaders and demolishing the offices of the Congress party. When the agitated Congress leaders like Oommen Chandi warned the CPI-M that they would be forced to withdraw from the Government if the CPI-M continued with the practice of its class annihilation, the then minister of home T K Ramakrishnan declared that the Congress Government at the Centre had deputed agents of its secret police to finish off top Congress leaders in the State. Senior Congress leaders like Aryadan Mohammed asked Ramakrishnan for proof. While a timid Ramakrishnan withdrew from the face, the Congress pulled out of the CPI-M-led front leading to the downfall of the Nayanar Government.
What the present Pinarayi Vijayan government has done is file cases against journalists who reported on the fabrication of fake degree certificates by SFI leaders. It is interesting to note that all young CPI-M leaders consider it a privilege to possess a Ph D degree which allows them to add the prefix Doctor to their names. If they are asked about the subject of their research and what have they substantiated through their studies, chances are that they may cock a snook at the person who asked the questions. The CPI-M led by Vijayan which was returned to power in the 2021 assembly election has made a mockery of democracy and has thrown decency to the winds whereas they were expected to be more responsible towards the requirements of the people. All initiatives like Silver Line Rail, K Phone, K Vaccine, and start-up ventures labelled as development programs are embroiled in corruption. Adding insult to injury is the finding that there exists a Green Light WhatsApp group of senior police officials in Kerala Police to extend help to the anti-national elements. The second innings of Pinarayi Vijayan’s tenure are full of disharmony and cacophony.
(Writer is Special Correspondent, The Pioneer. Views expressed are personal)
