Kozhikode, Oct 5 (IANS) Pinarayi, Mattannur, Kalliassery, Koothuparamba, and DC Office – the names may sound like places on a political map of Kerala, but at the University of Calicut, they are the names of rooms in the men’s hostel.
The names Pinarayi, Mattannur, Kalliassery and Koothuparamba are all CPI-M’s strongholds that have found their way onto hostel doors, along with the DC Office.
Whether the names represent political influence, student humour, or simply the imagination of hostel residents is now part of the debate.
And now, those names have brought the hostel under the university authorities’ scanner.
The university has decided to inspect the hostel following complaints from students over the naming of rooms after areas identified with the CPI-M.
The university said the inspection was being ordered after receiving complaints.
The decision has added a new political interest to what might otherwise have remained an unusual hostel naming practice.
If this were the time of a Left government, there might have been little mystery about where the campus debate would eventually lead.
But with the Congress-led UDF government now in power, the question being quietly asked in campus and political circles is: what will the inspection finally find?
The names themselves have become the talking point.
The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) says students often give names to blocks and rooms according to their interests and imagination and that similar practices could be seen in hostels across Kerala.
The SFI also turned the spotlight on the university authorities, alleging that the hostel had not received proper painting or maintenance for a long time.
The controversy, however, has moved beyond the question of what students chose to write inside hostels.
With the university now deciding to inspect the premises, the findings are likely to be watched closely.
–IANS
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