Varsity Refuses Renewal of Affiliations to Christian Colleges

THRISSUR, Kerala, July 02, 2009, 18.30 Hrs (SAR News):

Calicut University has decided not to renew its affiliation to four of the self-financing professional colleges run by the Catholic Church in Kerala state.

The decision of the Communists-led Left Democratic Front government, which has been at loggerheads with the Church authorities over several issues, particularly education, is seen as a deliberate act to cut down the influential Catholic Church to size.

“This is revengeful. The university’s refusal to renew the affiliations of the four colleges in Thrissur district yesterday (June 18), is a violation of the University Act,” Thrissur Archdiocese vicar general and Jyothi Engineering College manager, Father Raphael Vadakkan, told reporters here June 19.

The four colleges — Amala Institute of Medical Sciences, Jubilee Mission Medical College and Research Centre, Jyothi Engineering College and Sahradaya College of Engineering and Technology — are run by the Thrissur Archdiocese, the Irinjalakuda Diocese and the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate congregation.

Vadakkan said the university had not issued any notice to these colleges as to why the affiliations should not be renewed.

The Centre and All-India Council of Technical Education had given permanent recognition to these institutions.

Vadakkan said the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) and the government led by it, on one hand say they will do their best to remove all anxieties among the minority community in running its institutions smoothly, while on the other they harass the Church-run educational institutions. “This is a despicable act of the LDF government. Such pressure tactics would be resisted at any cost,” he said.