THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Alleging that Shankar Mohan was “insulted and shunted out” of the K R Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts, veteran filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan has stepped down from the post of the institute’s chairman.
Announcing his resignation at a press conference on Tuesday, a visibly emotional Adoor said by forcing Shankar Mohan to quit as the director of the institute, Kerala has deported a fine Malayali professional.
Adoor tendered his resignation to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is the president of the governing council of the institute, on Monday. Noted Kannada filmmaker Girish Kasaravally has also resigned from the post of chairman of the academic council.
Students of the K R Narayanan Institute were on an indefinite strike for a month accusing Shankar Mohan of practising caste discrimination towards students and staff.
The events took an ugly turn when Adoor openly supported the director, terming all such allegations as baseless. His statements against students, women employees and the gatekeepers too had courted controversy. It’s in this backdrop that Adoor chose to step down.
In his resignation letter, Adoor came down heavily on the commission appointed by the government to probe into the allegations raised by the students, albeit without naming the panel headed by former chief secretary and Malayalam university vice-chancellor K Jayakumar.
Adoor calls for a thorough inquiry to expose sponsors of protests
“Through the dramas in the name of investigation, they, instead of identifying the culprits, tried to humiliate and despise people who lived with rectitude,” Adoor said. “The CM had appointed a high power inquiry commission at my insistence. They did not care to inquire. It seems they only cared to study the lies spread on social media,” he said.
Adoor also questioned the credibility of the commission to propose suggestions for the improvement of the institute. He called for a thorough investigation by honest and high-ranking police officers to expose the sponsors of the protests in the institute.
Meanwhile, Higher Education Minister R Bindu said she doesn’t consider Adoor’s resignation as a protest against the government. If Adoor has any complaints, the government is open to examining them, she told reporters.
“It was with Adoor’s permission that two eminent persons who had made their mark in educational and administrative domains were appointed as members of the commission,” Bindu said. The commission members did not have any intention to malign either Adoor or Shankar Mohan, she added.
Bindu said it was not fair to question the credibility of the two-member commission. Shankar quit even before the government looked into the commission’s findings, she said, adding the government never pressured him into quitting. Meanwhile, students of K R Narayanan institute welcomed Adoor’s resignation.
“We expected this resignation and we welcome it. It reflects the success of our protest. We urge the state government to release the enquiry commission report,” said Sreedev Suprakash, chairman, of the students’ council at the institute.