Day after restoring book on Vid to syllabus, Kane hints at dropping it

Nagpur: Cornered again, this time by united Maharashtra supporters, Nagpur University vice chancellor SP Kane on Thursday reportedly agreed to drop separate Vidarbha protagonist Shreehari Aney’s book from Master of Arts (Political Science) syllabus, just a day after restoring it.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) activists led by general secretary Hemant Gadkari met Kane after coming to know about the academic council’s decision to restore the book ‘Vidarbha Rajya — Important documents concerning creation of Vidarbha’ in the syllabus.

Gadkari said Kane too was on the same page as far as ‘political tenor’ of the book is concerned. “The VC told us that he had dropped the book based on the same issue we put up before him. We told him that the book deals with a political and controversial issue which must not be taught in the university,” he said.

In June, Kane had told the council that the title of the book itself was controversial, before pulling it off the syllabus.

The VC not only promised to review the decision again but also asked the MNS activists to meet Board of Studies chairman Mohan Kashikar, who is NU’s head of political science department. “The VC said he understood the problem and asked us to explain the same to Kashikar too. We will meet him on Friday,” Gadkari said.

During the 30-minute meeting, the MNS activists said they were not opposed to Aney’s works but only that a particular ideology must not be propagated at educational institutions. “What if we demand prescribing a book on benefits of united Maharashtra to Nagpur? This is the second capital of Maharashtra. When it becomes capital of Vidarbha then we will see if students can be taught such books. Aney is an advocate but not a littérateur or author,” Gadkari said.

In its edition dated June 12, TOI was the first to report about Kane’s arbitrary move to drop the book during the academic council meeting held on June 10. Following the TOI report, a delegation of Vidarbha Connect comprising advocate Mukesh Samarth, TS Renu, Dinesh Naidu and Sandesh Singalkar met the VC, demanding reconsideration of his decision. Apprehending backlash, Kane rolled back the decision, which was ratified in the November 13 council meeting.

Singalkar, who is publisher of the book, said it is just a compilation of historical facts. “The book covers Akola Pact, Nagpur Pact, memorandum by Bapuji Aney, and thoughts on linguistic state by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Theses topics were already prescribed in MA political science syllabus. We compiled it so that students get it at one place. I would say MNS men must first read the book,” he said.