News Tamil Nadu

EVR’s UNESCO Award – Stalin version: DMK chief in 2003 travelled all the way to London to receive doctorate from a bogus university

December 29, 2020
The Commune

On December 25, social media accounts created as part of MK Stalin’s image building exercise posted a picture that said that the DMK chief when he was Mayor of Chennai, was awarded a doctorate by the ‘Irish International University’.

The social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc named ‘Stalinudan TN’ (Tamil Nadu with Stalin) posted a picture stating that MK Stalin was the only Mayor from India to have participated in the ‘International Mayors Conference’ and was awarded a ‘doctorate’ by the ‘Irish International University’ for his contribution to ‘local governance’.

Image

However, it turns out that the said university is an unaccredited bogus university that offered ‘sub-standard and worthless degrees’.

A BBC News report dated January 7, 2008 said “The bogus Irish International University (IIU), which offers sub-standard and worthless degrees, has been allowed to flourish in the UK – virtually unchecked by the government – for the last seven years.” The investigative report of the BBC went on to describe it as an educational scam that targeted foreign students.

A report by The Irish Times called the Irish International University as a “bogus university” that “targets overseas students with the promise of earning an Irish university qualification online that holds ‘international recognition’”

A video of DMK chief MK Stalin receiving the ‘doctorate degree’ from the university has been posted in his official YouTube account.

This has now become a fodder for netizens critical of the DMK with many reminiscing how Dravida Kazhagam leader E.V. Ramasamy Naicker (known as ‘Periyar’ by his followers) was awarded the ‘Socrates of South-East Asia’ award by UNESCO.

It has been said, written and ingrained in the minds of people that Ramasamy Naicker was conferred with the title of “Socrates of South-East Asia” by the UNESCO. For more than 40 years, this lie has been peddled with several articles and research papers on EVR written based on this lie.

However, an email response from the UNESCO office in Delhi had confirmed that no such award/title was given to E.V. Ramasamy Naicker. Following this, the lie has now been removed from the new textbooks.