Chandigarh, Sep 19 - The synopsis for a PhD thesis in Panjab University's (PU) English Department is generating a lot of controversy among the faculty, who are divided over the alleged sexual and pornographic content of the research.

The Research Degree Committee (RDC) of the department, which gives final nod to the research topics of PhD scholars, has deferred a decision on Nipun Kalra's topic on films of French writer and director Catherine Breillat, based on sexuality and extreme violence and Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar, whose subjects are chiefly sexual identity, homosexuality and violence.

His research project is titled 'Transgressive depiction of sexuality onscreen: a study of selected films of Catherine Breillat and Pedro Almodovar'.

'The committee had told me to incorporate various changes in my topic and subject matter. At this stage, I have no other option and I will abide by their instructions,' Kalra told IANS.

Defending Kalra's choice of subject, sociology professor and PU Teachers' Association president Manjit Singh said: 'One can choose his research topic from any sphere of life and academically there should be no restrictions on it. Therefore, deferring a topic on the grounds that some teachers were uncomfortable or because it is based on pornography and sexuality is not acceptable.'

'There is no need to create this fundamentalism and only filter should be that the topic should not be based on communalism or hurt religious sentiments. RDC should focus on other disciplinary things instead of creating such kind of hurdles,' Singh told IANS.

Meanwhile senior faculty members of the English department contended that there is no harm in deferring a discussion on the topic if there is anything objectionable in it.

'We have deferred this topic only till the next meeting of RDC. A very senior teacher, who had seen these movies, told us that there were many objectionable and obscene scenes in them and we cannot ignore this,' Rana Nayyar, chairperson of the English department, told IANS.