While schools in Gujarat and Maharashtra have kickstarted sensitisation programs for students on Citizenship Amendment Law (CAA) at the behest of the Bhartiya Janta Party, a University in Uttar Pradesh has gone a step further and launched a special program on the controversial CAA which has sparked heated debates and protests in several universities across India.
The Uttar Pradesh Rajarshi Tandon Open University (UPRTOU) Allahabad has labelled the course as “Awareness Program on CAA”.
The duration of the program would be three months to one year and Rs. 700 would be the course fee, says the website of the only open university in the state.
Interestingly, the varsity also offers another awareness program referred to as “Jammu and Kashmir” which mainly talks about Article 370 and its abrogation, sources say.
Registration for both the programs has been started from Monday although it is unclear how many persons have registered so far. “There is no limit on number of candidates taking up these programs,” a university official said.
Range of awareness programs offered by the university includes Kumbh Darshan, Yoga, Good Governance, Dairy Farming and Antyoday. However, undergraduate, graduate and diploma courses are its backbone though just like other open universities in India.
Rajeev Rai, Samajwadi Party spokesperson says, “The University’s move seems to be on the line with the BJP’s school outreach program over CAA. This explains BJP’s frustration and desperation to garner support for the law which has been widely rejected by people of India.”
Prof Kameshwar Nath Singh, the vice chancellor of University, was not available for comments.
Another official said, “There is a lot of confusion and misconception among people over the CAA and article 370. Hence, it is the moral responsibility of universities to make people aware of these crucial issues and clear the misconceptions. Hence, we decided to start these courses.”
