A Conversation with Prof. NA Karim

By Anas S

Professor N.A. Karim is former Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Kerala University. He has been a long-standing advocate of strengthening educational standards as a means to further social progress. Born in 1926 in Cochin, he joined Ernakulum Maharajas College but was soon expelled due to his active involvement in the then anti-colonial political struggles. Though for a short term he engaged in political and journalistic works, he continued his studies and obtained a BA from Degree College in Malabar, Masters from Aligarh Muslim University, and PhD in English language and literature from University of Kerala. He has also taught at various colleges and universities, including the Jamia Millia of Delhi. Later, he began to work in educational administration, first as the Dean of Students, University of Calicut, then as the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Kerala for two terms. He also contested a by-election to the State Legislative Assembly on a Left Platform against Mr. A. K. Antony, the then Chief Minister of Kerala. He is a prolific writer on educational, social, political, and cultural issues both in English and Malayalam, publishing numerous articles and books.

[Anas S completed his MA in International Relations at Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam and MPhil in West Asian Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Currently he is a doctoral fellow at Jawaharlal Nehru Universituy, New Delhi. He can be reached at anas.tvm@gmail.com.]

[This piece on Cafe Dissensus is protected under Creative Commons License. Once a piece is published in Cafe Dissensus, we will retain the exclusive copyright for a period of 30 days, from the date of publication. Within this period, the piece cannot be re-published elsewhere even in an adapted and modified form.Thereafter, it must be acknowledged that the piece was first published in Cafe Dissensus. Re-publishing articles from Cafe Dissensus in other magazines and newspapers without permission will amount to copyright violation and the publisher is liable to prosecution.]