- Kerala Governor Arlekar attended a Sanskrit seminar during his first campus visit in two years
- Police used mild force and detained some SFI members amid protests and slogans
- CPI(M) MLA MV Govindan supported the SFI protest on the university campus
Members of the left-wing group Students' Federation of India (SFI) broke into the campus of Kerala University today in protest against what they called "saffronisation" of the institution.
The protest happened while Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar was participating in an international seminar on the Sanskrit language, titled 'Global Issues and Sanskrit Knowledge Systems'.
This was the first time the Governor - who is also the Chancellor of the university in Thiruvananthapuram - visited the campus in two years, amid friction between him and the SFI.
The police used mild force to prevent the protesters from creating a ruckus on the campus. Some SFI members were detained, while others kept shouting slogans against the Governor.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA MV Govindan also arrived at the campus to show support to the SFI.
The row began when SFI opposed the use of a picture of 'Bharat Mata' at the university event.
The SFI has also been raising its voice against the suspension of Vice Chancellor Mohanan Kunnummal.
On July 2, the Governor appointed Ciza Thomas, Vice Chancellor of Kerala Digital University, as the Vice Chancellor-in-Charge of the University of Kerala.
Last month, SFI members protested against an order by Kunnur University, which decided to form a special committee to monitor university programmes for anti-national content. The order was later withdrawn.
