Arif Mohammad Khan vs Kerala government: Governor to take up alleged murder bid on him, may urge CM to revisit his promise
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “No pre-conditions on the part of the state government. Not only that, the state government will ensure that there will not be any kind of interference, political or otherwise. The only request is that I should continue as the chancellor of universities,” Governor Arif Mohammad Khan had told The New Indian Express during a recent interaction as part of the Express Dialogue series.
It is learnt that the governor is likely to write another letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan asking him to withdraw his three letters in which he had promised that there would not be any political interference in the running of universities.
He is also expected to raise the issue of an alleged murder attempt on him during the Indian History Congress in Kannur, the intelligence failure that led to the incident and the inaction by the state government in the case.
“If there was a murder attempt on the CM or even waving of a black flag against him, will the police wait for the CM to go and file a complaint? Naturally, when there was an attempt made on the governor, he expected the government to take it seriously. However, the government seems to have deliberately ignored the incident or even try to conduct any investigation into the same, despite its gravity. The governor feels that the attempt on his life was deliberate, and not spontaneous,” said a source close to Raj Bhavan.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had written another four letters to the governor after the latter had written a letter to the government expressing his intention to vacate as the chancellor of the universities.
In the first three letters, Pinarayi urged Khan to continue as the chancellor and suggested that he should appreciate the state government’s role in the system. However, the governor insisted that he be handed over charge as the chancellor.
The government was well aware of the issues that might arise, especially from the part of the UGC, if the governor vacated the role of the chancellor. That’s when the fourth letter was sent.
First, a senior official went to Raj Bhavan and showed the governor the draft of the fourth letter asking whether he would accept the same.
“I made some amendments in the draft and the fourth letter was sent incorporating the same," Khan said.
Following this, the governor decided to continue as the chancellor.
On Saturday, speaking to the media, the governor was referring to these letters in which the CM promised that there would not be any interference in appointments.
Sources said the governor is planning to take on the government on the controversial appointments in universities so as to highlight nepotism in university appointments.