KOTTAYAM: KR Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts (KRNNIVSA) director Shankar Mohan resigned on Saturday following the 46th day of the students’ protest at Thekkumthala in Kottayam.
Responding to a television channel, Shankar Mohan said his resignation was not in connection with the protests in the institute, but due to the completion of his tenure as the director of the institution.
Last year, on December 5, 2022, 82 students of KRNNIVSA launched an indefinite strike demanding the ouster of the director alleging him of caste discrimination and undermining reservation norms in the students’ admission process. As a result, the institute was shut down as per the direction of the district Collector citing possible law and order issues.
Following this, students turned their protest into a new path. They launched the ‘art of protest’, in which students resumed academic activities on their own through online and offline classes outside the campus while continuing their strike. They got tremendous support from the film fraternity with a lot of film personalities offering assistance for the students to continue their academic activities.
Meanwhile, the government had constituted a two-member commission to look into the issues. The commission submitted its report a week ago. Mohan’s resignation came out against the backdrop of the govt considering the findings and recommendations in the report.