Controversial left-wing writer and college faculty Deepa Nisanth, an important face behind the infamous beef festivals and left-wing activist Sreechithran have been caught red-handed by social media users after the duo had lifted a poem and published it in a magazine. The controversial writer has now apologised for blatant plagiarism of a poem, reported Mathrubhumi.
In 2015, she had challenged the Sangh Parivar by taking the lead in organising a beef festival at the college, which is run by Cochin Devaswom Board.
According to the reports, Deepa Nisanth along with Sreechithran had lifted a poem titled ‘Anganeyirikke Marichu Poyi Njan’ written by young poet S Kalesh and then published it in ‘Kerala Private College Teacher’, a journal of the left-wing All Kerala Private College Teachers’ Association (AKPCTA). Deepa Nisanth with some minor changes had published the poem in the left-wing magazine claiming it has her work.
However, S Kalesh, the composer of the poem was shocked after it was republished by the left-wing activist under her name which was first published in 2011 in his blog and later as part of the book Sabdamahasamudram’ in 2015. Incidentally, the original poem also had the same title ‘Anganeyirikke’ meaning “So when I died”, which was later lifted by the duo.
Poet S Kalesh in his Facebook post had said that he had evidence that Deepa Nisanth plagiarized many lines from a poem that he had written in 2011. Kalesh had threatened Deepa Nisanth of legal proceedings for lifting his poem and had asked her to give a clear explanation regarding her shameful behaviour.
However, Deepa Nisanth had initially claimed that she did not plagiarize the poem rather it was sent to her by Sreechithran claiming it was his poem. “The poem was sent to me by my friend several years back. I wanted him to publish it. But, he was not ready for that…When he disagreed, I decided to publish it in my name taking advantage of the authority given by friendship,” said Deepa.
After receiving severe flak across the social media, Deepa Nisanth wrote an apology post saying, “Since I’m responsible for each and every word published under my name, I apologise. I expect this issue will end here,” she said in the FB post.