KOCHI: Bitter politics at Ernakulam Maharaja’s College seems to have claimed another victim, with principal Dr V S Joy going on long leave. SFI activists had locked him up in his office, along with the vice-principal, for six hours on Thursday evening.
Since October 2021, the college has had four principals, reflecting the sad state of affairs at an institution that once occupied pride of place in the state’s higher education sector. Though principal Joy cited “personal issues”, according to sources, he went on leave following the bad treatment meted out by the college’s governing council. The same allegations were raised by a former principal who was at the receiving end of a dissenting governing council.
Of late, the college has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, and this may have triggered Joy’s decision to go on leave, say sources. SFI activists confined Dr Joy and vice-principal Dr Pooja P Balasundaram on Thursday to protest the suspension of two of their fellow members for violence and ragging on the campus. “SFI targeting the principal has become a common occurrence in the college. We even came across statements by SFI activists threatening the principal,” a lecturer told TNIE on condition of anonymity.
The teachers, cutting across political lines, condemned the SFI action. “When matters don’t match the governing council’s expectations, the principal gets targeted. Students’ organisations are employed for the purpose,” said sources. Dr K Jayakumar, Dr Mathew George, Dr Mercy Joseph, and Dr V Anil were Dr Joy’s predecessors who had short stints. Despite repeated attempts, Joy was not available for comment.
In August, six students, including a KSU leader, were suspended for allegedly ridiculing a visually impaired faculty member. In June, Dr Joy was embroiled in a controversy after SFI state secretary P M Arsho’s name figured in the mark list of the third-semester exam of the integrated PG programme in archaeology and material cultural studies. But, there were no marks or grades recorded against his name in any of the subjects.
“He must have had enough. The final straw could have been his confinement by SFI activists,” said an assistant professor who didn’t want to be named. “Whenever a principal becomes proactive, he or she gets targeted and they make an exit by taking long leave,” the assistant professor added.
The situation in the college is such that no one wants to take charge as principal, say sources. “Who would want to come to a place where they don’t have the freedom to make decisions beneficial to the institution?” said the tutor. With no one interested in taking charge as principal, the mantle might fall on someone close to or within the governing council, sources added.
Oct 12: A group of SFI activists lock up principal Dr V S Joy and vice-principal Dr Pooja P Balasundaram inside the principal’s office for six hours
‘Council not taken into confidence’
Governing council chairman N Ramakanth said the entire issue shows that principals don’t communicate with the council. Even with the recent issues on campus, the principal didn’t take the council into confidence, he said. “We are always there to help out the head of the institution. But for that to happen they have to take us into confidence,” Ramakanth said. S S Murali, a member of the council, said principal Dr Joy was going on leave only for a week or two, and it has nothing to do with the issues at the college.