The Calicut University in Kerala has decided to withdraw ‘Ode to the Sea’, a poem written by al-Qaeda leader Ibrahim Suleiman al-Rubaish, from the English textbook for third semester BA and BSc students following a huge controversy over its inclusion in the book.
The university decided to remove the poem from the book, literature and Contemporary Issues, for the third semester degree students on the basis of the recommendation of a commission headed by scholar MM Basheer. The panel said that it was improper to keep the poem in the syllabus as the poet was an al-Qaeda leader.
The poem is said to have been written when al-Rubaish was a detainee at the US’s Guantanamo Bay detention centre between 2001 and 2006. Al-Rubaish was handed over to the US authorities by the Pakistan military after his capture from the Afghan border in 2001. A Saudi national, he was transferred to Saudi Arabia in 2006 but he reportedly escaped custody after that.
The university authorities had initially said that the past of the poet was immaterial and that what was important was the content of the poem but it appointed the commission to review the matter after several English teachers from various colleges affiliated to the university protested against the inclusion of the poem along with those of Pablo Neruda, Sylvia Plath, etc.
What is mysterious in the inclusion of the poem in the book, according to critics, is the fact that details of his al-Qaeda life has been exempted from the description on the poet given with the poem. The book had introduced al-Rubaish as a Saudi national who had taken a degree in Sharia law from the Imam Muhammad Bin Saud University in Saudi Arabia.
In general, the poem speaks of desperation, pain and solitude in the life in exile (in the Guantanamo Bay detention centre) but critics say that hatred does lurk in it when one reads it in between the lines. ‘Ode to the Sea’ was first published in 2006 by the Amnesty International as part of an anthology, Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak.
“The poem per se is not an offence… It is readable and even enjoyable with all the imageries that constitute good writing in its category. But there are numerous poems like that written by well-known poets. Why was then the board of studies so particular about choosing this poem written by an alleged terroristIJ” asked a professor at the Calicut University.
Senior BJP leader PK Krishnadas had called for a probe by the anti-terror squad to find out the possible conspiracy behind inclusion of the poem in the curriculum. “The inclusion of al-Rubaish’s poem in the syllabus cannot be seen as accidental. This is proof of the influence of religious extremism even over Kerala’s universities,” he said.
As expected, the decision for removal of the poem from the book sparked protests from leftist and Muslim intellectuals and writers. Marxist theoretician KEN Kunhahammad and poet and former Kendra Sahitya Academy secretary K Sachithanandan criticised the university’s decision saying such intolerance towards literary works was highly improper.
“I don’t see even a single word in that poem that warrants exclusion from a textbook. There is no reference in that poem that in any way encourages himsa or extremism. Banning such works is an onslaught on primary freedom,” said Sachithanandan. Kunhahammed said that the university’s act was a sign of cultural regression prompted by imperialism.
Born in 1979, al-Rubaish (Ibrahim Sulayman Muhammad Arbaysh), is known as one of the topmost leaders of the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. A 2009 report says that he had become a mufti of the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula after 2006. Al-Rubaish is accused of calling for jehad early this year saying that it was his duty to spur the Muslims to kill Americans.