Pinarayi Vijayan criticizes UDF for suppressing student protests in Keralam

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The UDF government is compromising its policies by allowing the influence of Sangh Parivar to grow in Keralam’s higher education sector, Leader of the Opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan alleged on Saturday.

He said the higher education sector was in “doldrums” and accused the government of suppressing student protests instead of addressing academic, administrative and infrastructure concerns.

Referring to protests at Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, he alleged that students who raised issues concerning poor infrastructure and administrative lapses were slapped with false cases.

The Leader of the Opposition also questioned Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar’s reported decision to summon the State Police Chief and seek action against protesting students, alleging that such interventions undermined the federal principles of the Constitution.

“The same enthusiasm to crush student protests seen at Jantar Mantar is being replicated in Keralam with the Governor, Vice-Chancellors and the UDF government acting together,” they alleged.

He questioned the alleged double standards in banning student leaders such as Aishe Ghosh on campuses while some VCs could attend RSS programmes openly.

No one has risen to a leadership position in the CPI(M) through “shortcuts”, Mr. Vijayan said.

Dismissing as contemptuous the remarks made by Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan about Assembly Speaker A.N. Shamseer, he said such an assessment was unacceptable and would be rejected by the party.

“Such an assessment is contemptuous, and the party rejects it,” he said.

He demanded that the State government and Members of Parliament must make effective interventions to reverse the decision to shift Mangaluru out of the Palakkad railway division.

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