'Nudes' to be removed from from Kerala varsity campus
Thiruvananthapuram: Artists in Kerala had compared it to the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas by the Taliban, but the Cochin University of Science and Technology has defended cutting off the breasts of the famous grass mermaid who reclined at the campus garden.
In fact, the CUSAT pro-vice chancellor, Mr Godfrey Louis, who probed the incident on the orders of the vice chancellor, Dr. Raghavan Thekkedath, submitted a report on Tuesday recommending that other similar ‘nudes’ be also removed from the premises.
Mr Louis said in his report that the grass mermaid 'was vulgar and violated all tenets of decency'.
According to him, the grass mermaid and similar ‘obscene’ sculptures were designed by the gardeners without the permission of the varsity and there was no need to protect them. In fact, the gardeners had brought a bad name to CUSAT through their antics, he pointed out.
The pro-VC felt that the sculptures spoilt the academic ambience of the varsity and also violated court directives on preventing harassment of women.
It may be noted that the CUSAT registrar, Mr Chandramohan, had ordered the removal of the breasts of the grass mermaid on the basis of a complaint from a women’s organisation which felt the 20-foot long sculpture was obscene.
Following the uproar, the VC had ordered a probe into the event. Though the VC had hinted in a senate meeting last week that the mermaid might be restored, the probe report has stoutly defended the act.
The senate which met on Tuesday formed a three-member committee to take further action on the report.
Apart from artists, state Chief Minister, Mr V.S. Achuthanandan, had also condemned the act saying that vulgarity was in the eye of the beholder and not in the sculpture.
Post new comment