THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Setting the stage for a major showdown at Kerala University, Vice-Chancellor Mohanan Kunnummal dissolved the SFI-controlled university union and initiated the process for fresh elections, even as protests by the student outfit over the denial of permission to conduct the university youth festival turned violent at the varsity headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.
Later in the day, SFI leaders termed the V-C’s decision to disband the union a “revenge bid” and said they will intensify their protests against Kunnummal’s “autocratic ways”.
The V-C had denied permission on the grounds that only a new union formed after the upcoming elections was eligible to conduct the festival. The outgoing committee, he pointed out, had conducted the event in April last year.
SFI activists are on a day-and-night stir at the varsity’s Senate House campus after the V-C turned down their demand to allot Rs 50 lakh to conduct the event.
By noon, a large number of SFI workers marched to the varsity headquarters after dismantling the police barricades erected at the main gate. Police used water cannons multiple times but failed to prevent the protesting students’ entry into the premises.
As they clearly outnumbered police personnel, the SFI workers managed to gain entry into the Senate House building where offices of the varsity’s top officials are situated. Kunnummal was not at the varsity when the protest occurred.
The SFI workers later sat outside the registrar’s and V-C’s chambers shouting slogans. Apart from opposing the V-C’s decision to deny nod for conducting the youth festival, the protesters also demanded the immediate release of travel allowance (TA) dues for student athletes, which they alleged was pending for several months.
After nearly two hours of SFI protest that disrupted smooth functioning of the varsity headquarters, more police personnel reached the spot and started removing the workers who blocked the movement of police vehicles with barricades.
After a scuffle, police arrested a few SFI leaders, including union chairman Ashwin S Nair, and took them to Cantonment police station. SFI workers later marched to the police station demanding the release of their leaders.
The faceoff between the V-C and SFI workers had flared up after a violent protest by the latter at the varsity headquarters last week over the conduct of the youth festival.
Following last week’s protest, the university submitted a formal complaint to the state police chief, seeking legal action against the SFI workers and pro-CPM Syndicate members.
The complaint, filed by the registrar on the instructions of V-C, had accused the group of forcibly intruding into the V-C’s chamber.
Syndicate members, G Muralidharan and N Pramod, were accused of facilitating and abetting the students’ unlawful entry.