Calicut University Banners Controversy: Governor, SFI Spar Over Posters

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the SFI clashed over banners against the Governor at Calicut University. The Governor alleged police involvement, while the SFI threatened to put up more posters.

On Sunday, the Calicut University campus in Malappuram, Kerala, witnessed a dramatic confrontation between Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the Students Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPIM]. The incident unfolded when SFI banners referring to the governor as a "sanghi" and demanding his departure were discovered outside the Calicut University guest house, where Khan was staying.

Governor's Outrage and Accusations

Governor Khan expressed outrage upon seeing the banners and alleged that they were put up by the state police at the behest of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He engaged in a phone conversation with his secretary at the Raj Bhavan, instructing him to send a notice to the vice chancellor seeking an explanation for the presence of the banners and the involvement of the police. Khan also demanded action against those responsible for allowing the banners to be displayed.

Confrontation with Police

At the university, Khan confronted the police personnel deployed for his security, questioning why the banners had not been removed. He expressed his displeasure and accused the police of attempting to insult him. The governor threatened to leave the guest house immediately and demanded his car, asserting that no police personnel would accompany him. He further criticized the police for their inaction and accused the SFI of running the university.

SFI's Response and Escalation

In response to the governor's ire, police personnel removed the banners. However, SFI members led by their state secretary, P M Arsho, arrived shortly after and reinstalled the banners, including one that read "down down chancellor." They engaged in sloganeering against the governor, allegedly calling him a scoundrel, and burned an effigy of him. The SFI activists also threatened and intimidated the police personnel, suggesting that they focus on their duty of protecting the governor rather than interfering with their banners. Arsho accused the police of bending over backwards for a "sanghi" and announced that more such banners would be put up in the university by Monday morning.

CPIM's Support for SFI

The CPIM state secretariat expressed its support for the SFI and criticized the governor's actions. CPIM state secretary M V Govindan alleged that the Raj Bhavan's statement was issued after a meeting with BJP leaders and termed the governor's actions as unconstitutional. Govindan accused Khan of attempting to play politics by filling universities with RSS supporters and viewed the students' protest as a constitutional democratic right. He defended the SFI as an independent student body and accused the governor of constantly taunting and insulting the chief minister to oppose the ongoing SFI strike.

Raj Bhavan's Statement

The Raj Bhavan issued a statement expressing Governor Khan's serious concern over the actions of the state police in placing defamatory posters within the Calicut University campus. The statement asserted that the banners and posters were placed just outside the university guest house where the governor was staying and could not have occurred without the direction of the chief minister. The Raj Bhavan viewed this incident as the beginning of the collapse of the constitutional machinery in the state and accused the chief minister of deliberately precipitating the breakdown of constitutional machinery.

Background of the Conflict

The conflict between Governor Khan and the SFI stems from allegations that the governor has been pushing BJP-RSS nominees to the senate of various universities in Kerala using his authority as the chancellor. The SFI has been staging protests against Khan, accusing him of pursuing a saffronisation agenda in line with the BJP's ideology. Khan, in turn, has dismissed the protesting SFI students as criminals hired by the chief minister and has refused to be accountable to them for his decisions.

The confrontation between Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the SFI at Calicut University highlights the ongoing tensions between the governor and the student organization. The incident has further escalated the conflict, with the CPIM state secretariat expressing support for the SFI and criticizing the governor's actions. The underlying issues of alleged saffronisation of universities and the governor's authority remain at the core of this ongoing dispute.