Pro-Left Syndicate Members to Boycott Honorary Doctorate Presentation Event at Calicut University on October 6

University of Calicut | Photo credit: File Photo

Pro-Left members of the Senate, Syndicate and Academic Council of the University of Calicut have said they will boycott the honorary doctorate conferment ceremony scheduled for Tuesday (October 6).

Filmmaker Sathyan Anthikad and industrialist PK Ahammed are all set to be conferred Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) while scientist ED Jemmis will be awarded Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) at a function to be held at the main campus at Tenhipalam in Malappuram district.

MB Faisal, K. Mohammed Haneefa, K. Pradeep Kumar, P. Sushanth, E. Abdurahim and PP Sumod, MLAs, members of the Syndicate, said in a press release on Monday (October 5) that their protest was against the circumvention of the senate’s powers to confer degrees and the decision to sing the National Song Matara on Vande Matara.

They argued that when the syndicate was dealing with the issue of conferring honorary doctorates, there was no indication that the senate was being circumvented. After that, however, special provisions were applied, the senate was bypassed and the chancellor’s permission was directly required. Although the senate members expressed their disapproval in writing and the Syndicate members recorded their disapproval, Vice Chancellor (VC) P. Raveendran chose not to give any explanation and was unwilling to hold talks, they claimed.

Members of the pro-Left Syndicate said that in a counter-affidavit filed in the Kerala High Court in response to a petition filed by two senate members highlighting the above concerns, the university argued that discussing the issue in the senate would be unnecessary as it could lead to media attention. This showed how anti-democratic the authorities were. Also, though the pro-Left members urged the VC not to sing the National Anthem in full at the event, their concerns were not heeded.

Published – 05 Oct 2026 19:22 IST