Play staged on Ramleela presented at SPPU is still surrounded by controversies; not solved yet

A professor and five students of Savitribai Phule Pune University SPPU; Lalit Kala Kendra were arrested and later released on bail for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by staging a play based on Ramleela that reportedly had controversial scenes and dialogues. The incident took place on February 4. However, nothing remains solved, the controversies around the play are still there and the issue is yet to be solved. Reportedly this issue will be raised during the meeting of the management council.  

A proposal has been submitted in which the management council members are asked to seek apologies for their actions, otherwise, the management council will take action. The proposal will be submitted by Adhisabha member Dr. Harsh Jagzap (C-net Member Dr. Harsh Jagzap) for approval in the meeting.

As per the notice issued, the concerned professors should make sure that there is no content in the play that will hurt anyone's religious sentiments since a proposal of this content will also be presented.

The play, which was presented at the University's Fine Arts Centre, created a huge controversy. Various institutions, organizations and political parties demanded that action should be taken against the concerned professor in the university. Not only this, some members of the management council also entered the main building of the university chanting Lord Sri Rama before the meeting of the management council started in the university premises after this incident.

According to Article 28 (1) of the Constitution of India, no religious instruction has been imposed in any educational institution, except minority institutions run by government grants. Also, the Government of Maharashtra has from time to time issued instructions restricting the celebration of programs or worship of any particular religion in educational institutions. In the meeting of the Management Council, some members came to the meeting wearing saffron which is also being highlighted as unprofessional.  

 University is a temple of learning for higher education. Such incidents should be avoided whether it is a practical examination or other comedy performance, the code presented in the University as well as in the Fine Arts Center of the University should be checked by the concerned professors (Head of the Department of Fine Arts or Mentor Professor assigned to that group). The concerned professors should ensure that there should be no obscene behaviour, obscene language, obscene gestures, and also no content that would hurt anyone's religious sentiments.

The professor of the concerned department should be responsible for this. It is proposed by Dr. Aparna Lalingkar that the AGM is making such a recommendation to the concerned authority.