Minister to boycott varsity convocation over Governor’s refusal to honour Sankaraiah
In protest against Governor RN Ravi refusing to confer an honorary doctorate on veteran freedom fighter and CPM leader N Sankaraiah, Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy said he will boycott the convocation of Madurai Kamaraj University’s scheduled for Thursday.
Borrowing the words of poet Bharathi, the minister called the governor a pseudo-swadeshi (nadippu swadeshi) for refusing to sign the relevant papers related to conferring the honour on the freedom fighter.
It is the second time that the minister, who is also the pro-chancellor of the university, is boycotting the MKU convocation, as last year he did not attend the event as the varsity had invited minister of state L Murugan without consulting him.
A resolution to confer Sankaraiah with an honorary doctorate (D.Litt) was passed during the syndicate committee meeting of MKU on August 18, 2023, and later, it got the approval of the senate committee on November 20, 2023.