Updated: December 5, 2020 8:57:13 pm
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. (File photo)
Kerala’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sent a letter to the Center requesting that it reconsider its decision to name the second campus of the Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology (RGCB), which is located in Thiruvananthapuram, in honor of the late RSS head and Hindu ideologue. , MS Golwalkar.
While addressing a curtain opening session of the sixth edition of the Indian International Science Festival, hosted by the RGCB on Friday, the Union Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, had stated: ” I am pleased to understand that this research center will be called “Shri Guruji Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar National Center for Complex Disease in Cancer and Viral Infection. ”
The Union minister said that the next campus will be a unique knowledge center and a center for innovation of medium and high level, based on deep and advanced level technical platforms, multidisciplinary courses that will sow growth and innovation.
Kerala CM Vijayan writes to Union Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan to reconsider the decision to name the next campus of the Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology in Thiruvananthapuram in honor of MS Golwalkar, late RSS ideologue @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/YvPE7SOsKE
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In his letter to Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Vijayan stated: “This institute is a world-class research institute and has stood above political divisions. The Kerala Government is of the opinion that the campus should be named after some eminent Indian scientist of international reputation, rather than the proposed name. This will maintain the reputation of the institution and help avoid controversy in the public domain, ” he said.
Meanwhile, the CPM and Congress also criticized the Center for its decision.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said he has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging that the second RGCB campus also be named after Rajiv Gandhi.
Chennithala said that naming the new RGCB campus after the late RSS ideologue would only foster communalism. “What contributions had Golwalkar made to the field of science and technology in the country? The government should withdraw the decision and the institute’s new campus should be named after the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, ” he said.
Congressman Shashi Tharoor raised questions about Golwalkar’s contribution to science in addition to promoting communalism. “So the second RGCB campus in Thiruvananthapuram will be called” National Center Shri Guruji Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar for Complex Cancer Diseases and Viral Infections “! What is MSG’s contribution to science besides promoting the disease of communalism? ”
MA Baby, a member of CPI (M) polit bureau, said the decision was “appalling and part of RSS’s agenda to make progress after creating a communal division in Kerala. The entire democratic society of Kerala should oppose this measure. ”
However, the member of the BJP national executive committee, Sobha Surendran, welcomed the decision of the Union Government.
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