No Saraswati Puja here, we are secular: Kerala varsity to students from North

A letter dated February 1 said the varsity couldn't allow religious activities on campus.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Students wanted to conduct the puja between January 9 and 11
• Can't allow religious activities on campus: CUSAT
• Saraswati Puja was celebrated inside the campus till last year

A Kerala varsity has ruled out letting its students in Alappuzha district celebrate Saraswati Puja over the weekend, and told them theirs is a secular campus.

But until last year, the annual festival was celebrated inside the premises of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), which is government-owned but autonomous.

Hindus revere Saraswati as the goddess of knowledge and learning, and North Indian students at CUSAT's Kuttanad campus had asked for permission to conduct the puja honuring the deity betwen January 9 and 11.

CUSAT's vice-chancellor turned down their request, and a letter dated February 1 said the varsity couldn't allow religious activities on campus.

Meanwhile, in faraway Patna, another college has been in the news for a Saraswati Puja event -- albeit for entirely different reasons.

Students from BN College stunned authorities by inviting bar dancers to the celebrations, and a video went viral.

An FIR was filed at against the college hostel's puja committee.

IN A NUTSHELL: CUSAT, a government-owned university in Kerala, has refused to grant its North Indian students permission to celebrate Saraswati Puja on one of its campuses. It said the campus was secular.

SOURCE