Bangalore: The administration of Lakshadweep has asked the University of Calicut to stop offering Arabic courses at academic centers run by the Union Territory (UT) government.
The courses that have been withdrawn by the Lakshadweep administration are MA Arabic, M.Com, MA English, MSc aquaculture, and BA Arabic. The University of Calicut has also ratified the decision of the UT administration, Telegraph India reported.
Justifying the decision, the UT administration said that master’s courses are no longer in demand on the island. No reason has been mentioned for the cancellation of the BA Arabic course which is in high demand on the island.
However, as per U.S. Afzal who has been teaching Arabic for the past five years on the island, BA Arabic is popular in UT. The courses started in the UT 16 years ago, he added.
Now, the students of the island who are interested in studying BA Arabic have to travel to Kerala or somewhere else.
Although the Lakshadweep administration has withdrawn Arabic courses, it has introduced diploma courses in travel and tourism, catering and hospitality, and technical education on the Kadmat and Minicoy islands by signing an agreement with the Pondicherry Central University.
The decision of the island administration to withdraw Arabic courses has been criticized.
It may be mentioned that the Lakshadweep administrator Praful Patel is a former BJP leader. A section of people accuses him of imposing saffron agenda on Muslim-majority island.