THRISSUR: After the recent cartoon row that haunted the LDF government in the state that always upheld the freedom of expression, a fresh controversy had popped up in Thrissur as a banner allegedly put up by the students wing of the CPM depicting Lord Ayyappa in between the bleeding legs of a woman appeared in Sree Kerala Varma College here on Monday, as the freshers were set to start their classes.
This has come soon after the LDF was routed in the recent Lok Sabha elections and the Sabarimala issue was found to be a major reason for its stunning defeat. The latest development has paved way for further debates and criticism.
The banner that highlighted the importance of gender equality and proclaimed the solidarity of the SFI with the entry of young women into the Sabarimala temple appeared on the campus on Monday, the day the classes for freshers started. Sharing the picture of the banner on his Facebook page, Congress member of the Thrissur Corporation Council A. Prasad came out first against it.
“Freedom of expression and renaissance again through SKVC,” he commented on his Facebook page which later grabbed wide public attention. Prasad also wrote a letter to the Secretary of Cochin Devaswom Board, which governs the college, to remove the controversial banner from the college campus as it had hurt the sentiments of Ayyappa devotees. Youth Congress workers took out a protest march to the Cochin Devaswom Board office demanding action against the SFI activists who erected the banner.
Prasad alleged that the Cochin Devaswom Board was backing the SFI due to which such posters which were against the religious beliefs appeared on the campus.
The BJP also took out a protest march to the college seeking action against the students who displayed the banner on the campus. BJP district general secretary K. K. Aneeshkumar lodged a complaint with the Town West police.
It is not the first time that the SFI unit in SKVC had courted controversies as it had held a beef fest and displayed similar posters hurting the religious sentiments including the depiction of M. F. Husain’s Saraswathi on the college campus earlier.
Meanwhile, an official statement of SFI SKVC unit secretary Hassan Mubarak said the banner was not put up officially by the organisation. “Some people used the situation to spread fake news connecting the issue to SFI,” he said, adding that the banner was removed from the campus.
‘Issue is internal, govt won’t intervene’
Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel said, “The government has nothing to do with this incident as it is fully an internal issue that took place in the college. The management has to take steps to resolve the issue. The government won’t intervene”.
Collegiate Education director seeks a report from the principal on the issue
T’Puram: In the wake of the alleged disgraceful portrayal of Lord Ayyappa on banners put up allegedly by SFI activists at Sri Kerala Varma College in Thrissur, the Department of Collegiate Education sought a report from the college principal. Haritha V Kumar, Director of Collegiate Education, told Express that the department would take further action against the college on the basis of the report by the principal. “I have sought a report from the college principal on the issue. We will take action based on the findings in the report. The Kerala Varma college is an aided college, so the management is primarily responsible for this act,” Haritha said.