The Sree Krishna College in Guruvayur, Thrissur on Monday decided to withdraw the annual magazine of the college students’ union controlled by pro-CPI(M) student outfit SFI following a controversy over some of its contents which contained obscene references against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several other leaders.
The decision to withdraw the magazine was taken by the staff council of the college which also decided to seek explanation from the editorial advisory board over the issue. The management, principal and the staff editor of the magazine have already said that they had nothing to do with the publication of the controversial contents.
The Guruvayur police had on Sunday arrested nine students, including the student editor of the magazine, its sub-editors and members of the editorial advisory committee, all of them belonging to the SFI. They were released on bail later. The police had on Saturday registered a case against 12 people in relation to the controversy.
Those accused have been charged under various Sections of the IPC, including Section 153. The police had registered the case on the basis of a complaint lodged by the BJP. The managing committee of the famous Sree Krishna Temple at Guruvayur, which runs the college, has sought an explanation from the college principal on the controversy.
The college magazine for the academic year 2012-13 had contained a page featuring some ‘puzzles’ which referred to Prime Minister Modi, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, spiritual personality Mata Amritanand-amayi and several others with allegedly obscene terms. The SFI argues that the issue concerns freedom of expression.
The Government Polytechnic College at Kunnammulam, had last week withdrawn its magazine, published by the students’ union controlled by SFI, after a controversy erupted over a page on which Modi’s photograph was given along with those of Hitler, Osama bin laden, under the title, ‘Negative Faces’