The Kerala High Court on Friday issued urgent notice in a writ petition seeking directions to rename the Kerala University’s Youth Festival ‘Intifada’.
A single bench of Justice PV Kunhikrishnan issued notice in the writ petition to the Chancellor of the University and the Kerala University Union and has adjourned the matter for Tuesday.
Ashish AS, a first-year B Sc Chemistry student at the NSS College affiliated to Kerala University has approached the court.
Ashish, in his petition, says that the logo of the festival depicts the scarf of Palestine on the map of Israel.
The map of Israel is superimposed on the logo of the festival. The caption to the logo reads “the protest of arts against the invasion,” the petition says.
Kerala University organises the University Youth Festival every year. This year the youth festival has been named ‘Intifada’. “Intifada is an Arabic word, which means “shake-off.”
Palestinians use the term to mean ‘civil uprising.’ The word was used by the Palestinians in the wake of violence that erupted in Gaza between Palestinians and the Israelis. The term ‘intifada’ is historically linked with the militant/terror groups like the Hamas of Palestine,” Ashish says in his petition.
The youth festival cannot be related to a riot or a war. But Ext.P1 (name and logo of Festival) sets a different theme to the youth of the state. There is no place for politics or geopolitics in a youth festival. Israel-Palestine conflict cannot be the point of discussion or the theme of creative expression,” the petition says.
“The popular association of the term ‘intifada’ with violent terror uprisings of Israel- Palestine conflict, is largely understood by the student body as a call for globalising and popularising sentiments against inclusivity. The debates and discussions which have opened up in the college in the backdrop of the youth festival, varies from terrorism to politics- global, national and state.”
“The student body which is a mix of diverse students from various religious and political backgrounds- is being rift into various groups, at this early stage in the youth festival announcement itself. This cannot lead to a conducive environment to foster goodwill amongst students of the University,” the petition further says.