KANNUR: The Police have registered a case against 20 SFI workers, including state president K Anusree, for burning Governor Arif Mohammed Khan in effigy at Payyambalam beach on Sunday night.
The 30-ft effigy was burnt in connection with SFI’s ongoing protests against the governor, alleging “saffronisation of universities in the state”.
Thousands of people were present on the beach at the time of burning the effigy as ‘She Night’, a programme organised by the district panchayat in connection with New Year celebrations, was under way there. The Kannur Town police registered a case suo motu and charged the SFI activists under IPC sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (punishment for rioting) and 285 (negligent conduct concerning fire or combustible). Apart from Anusree, the police have booked district secretary P S Sanjeev and state joint secretary Vaishnav Mahendran.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters upon his arrival in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, the governor said: “They (the SFI activists) are only displaying their culture. In my case, they are burning only effigy. But they have burnt and killed so many people in Kannur district and other places”.
“A famous novelist of Kerala has written in his novel that the fascism which these people are practising, you have to seek permission of the party to pluck coconut from your own garden. So if they are burning, what can I do?” he asked.
“I am not responsible for law and order. SFI belongs to them, they are controlling the police. Who should be held responsible for this? Not the protesters but those organising the protest. The chief minister himself supported the protests, which means they are sponsoring it,” the governor said.