THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after the fracas on the street between the governor and the protesting Students Federation of India (SFI) activists, Arif Mohammed Khan on Tuesday alleged police complicity in the entire incident, and claimed that the agitators were brought to the spot in police vehicles.
Talking to reporters in New Delhi, Khan termed Monday’s incident in which SFI activists blocked his car and waved black flags at him as “an attack” on him. Reiterating the charge that the chief minister was behind the conspiracy, he alleged the trigger for the “attack” was a speech by Pinarayi Vijayan three days ago in which he said the governor was provoking the SFI workers.
"It is the chief minister who has hatched this conspiracy (to attack him). Three days ago, he made a public statement. He said the governor is provoking the students. But he did not give the instance as to how I am actually provoking them," Khan said "This is not the first time. In Kannur, they had tried to assault me physically."
"The one who was preventing police from taking action against those creating disturbance has been rewarded by the chief minister by appointing him his secretary," he charged.
Khan demanded that cases under Section 124 of IPC - that lays down punishment for assaulting or restraining the President or governor - should be registered against the “attackers”. The punishment under this section is imprisonment of up to seven years.
The governor said the incident denoted the “start of the collapse of constitutional machinery” in the state and added that he would inform the Union government of the prevailing situation.
“Kerala is not a communist state. It is a part of India, which is a democratic republic. Just because the government there is led by communists, it does not become a dictatorial state,” the governor said.
"The chief minister is saying the government is not bound to reply to every query of the Governor. Let him not reply. I will wait for 10 days. And then, if the state is in crisis, I must make my recommendations to the central government," Khan told reporters at Kerala Bhavan, a day after the incident in Thiruvananthapuram.
He said the state chief secretary in an affidavit to the high court has stated that the Kerala government is not in a position to disburse the pension of employees.
The state chief secretary also stated in the affidavit that the Kerala government is not in a position to honour the financial guarantees that it has given, he said, adding "Which means financial emergency in the state. And I have asked for a report".
Union Minister of State V Muraleedharan, who called on the governor in Delhi, condemned the “attack” and said the Kerala government was answerable for the “serious security lapse”. He alleged that the police had leaked the governor’s itinerary to the SFI workers to facilitate the protest.
"He was attacked thrice during his travel from the Raj Bhavan to the airport. The Kerala chief minister and communist party (CPI-M) and the communist party secretary have been issuing threats to the governor for the last few weeks," Muralidharan alleged.
"It's because the governor has been upholding the law and the Constitution and is also taking a firm stand against the corruption of the state government and nepotism. And the fact that the Supreme Court has upheld the view of the governor has made the communist party and their ruling friend take up this issue on the streets," the Union minister charged.
Muralidharan alleged that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's government is trying to build a false narrative that the Centre is trying to harass the state government.
"There will be a time when people of Kerala will come forward to resist such goons on the streets," he added.
Meanwhile, the SFI leadership said it would continue with the ‘black flag’ protests without blocking the governor’s motorcade. SFI, which has been protesting the governor’s alleged attempts to “saffronise” universities, said Khan would not be allowed to enter campuses in his capacity as chancellor.
Ministers in the Pinarayi Vijayan cabinet criticised the governor, with General Education Minister V Sivankutty likening him to a “goonda leader”. The minister was referring to the governor’s action of getting out of his car during the protest and “challenging” the SFI workers.
(With inputs from PTI)