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Kerala guv alleges CMO’s role in Kannur varsity issues; Releases video, letters
Kerala governor Arif Mohammad Khan released the video of the inaugural session of the 2019 History Congress in Kannur in which he was allegedly heckled and three letters written to him by the chief minister
Kerala governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Monday ramped up his attack on the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government saying its single point agenda is to silence those who differ with it and reminded chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan that he cannot be intimidated easily.
He released the video of the inaugural session of the 2019 History Congress in Kannur in north Kerala in which he was allegedly heckled, and three letters written by the chief minister requesting him to continue holding the position of the chancellor with a promise that varsities will be given full autonomy and there would not be any political interference.
Two big screens were installed in the Raj Bhawan press conference venue to show the proceedings of the History Congress and he reiterated his allegation that it was a well-planned and executed incident and protestors including historian Irfan Habib had tried to attack him. “You can see in the video a functionary of the CMO (chief minister’s office) was trying to prevent police from discharging their duty. Instead of controlling protestors he was blocking the police,” the governor said after watching the video. He said the video of the incident was procured from the government’s public relations department.
“Initially you can see him sitting on the dais with me and when the protests started he was with the protestors and blocking police men from discharging their duty,” he said referring to the alleged role played by former member of Parliament (MP) K K Ragesh who is now the chief minister’s secretary. Asked why he was releasing details of the incident after three years, he said in a criminal offence there was no time limit and he was forced to make them public after the government took several measures to intimidate him.
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“The Section 124 of the IPC says when anyone shows disrespect and protest against the President or governor it invites action immediately. It is a cognisable offence and if proved guilty invites 7-year jail. But here the CM’s office intervened and prevented police from taking action,” he said adding some of the senior police officers told him that they were helpless.
He said protestors mostly from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) were holding placards and black flags and they were allowed a free entry by the organisers deliberately. He said being the head of the state he cannot instruct the police to file a case and the government was duty-bound but it conveniently overlooked it thinking that “such incidents will intimidate him and he will turn pliable”. He said it should not have happened in the state where people wearing black shirts were randomly arrested.
“In a democracy one should respect law. Some people think it is legitimate to silence those who differ with them. Don’t try to intimidate me I have seen enough,” he said during the two-hour-long press conference.
Govenror slams LDF convenor, two former ministers
The governor said if the ruling front convener can attack two of his co-passengers onboard an aircraft and invited a travel ban such people could have attacked him easily in a function like this. He was referring to LDF convenor E P Jayarajan’s alleged manhandling of two youngsters who raised slogans against the chief minister which later invited a travel ban on Jayarajan.
“A former minister even questioned the territorial integrity of the country and spoke in the language of Pakistani (referring to K T Jaleel). And another minister was dropped for talking against the Constitution (referring to Saji Cherian). But the government ignores them and is busy installing party functionaries in key positions,” he said adding he was not against any ideology and late party ideologue E M S Namboodiripad had supported him when he took a position in Shah Bano case.
Talking about the LDF leader’s charge that he was trying to weaken the democratically elected government he said democracy does not mean that you should be party to wrongs doings and injustices. “I am here as long as I enjoy confidence of the President who appointed me. They can complain to the President,” he said.
Re-appointment of Kannur VC
At the press conference, he released copies of three letters that the chief minister had written to him assuring that the government would not interfere with the running of universities. He said despite these letters the chief minister turned a mute spectator to the milking of universities for party gains. He said he was unwilling to give another term to the Kannur vice-chancellor but the chief minister came to him with a personal request saying that the university is in his home district and allow him to continue.
“I will not be a party to the appointment of under-qualified and unqualified relatives of those in power in varsities. I don’t have any personal issues with anyone but I have certain duty to perform and I can’t turn a blind eye towards such practices,” he said referring to the recent appointment of Priya Varghese, wife of chief minister’s private secretary K K Ragesh, in Kannur university, allegedly bypassing eligible candidates.
He said when in one of the letters he quoted some of the reports of eminent scientist C N R Rao and historian K N Panikkar about the dipping standard of higher education sector in the state the chief minister wrote back saying they were trying to denigrate the state and its achievements. “I was really shocked to see his reply. Same yardstick is applied to me saying I was against Kannur university,” he lamented.
His meeting with RSS chief
Talking about his meeting with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat in Thrissur on Saturday he said some people were trying to whip it up and he has already made it clear it was a courtesy meeting. “While I was in Thrissur I came to know he is in town and made a courtesy call. I don’t know why some people made it a big controversy,” he said adding he attended many RSS functions earlier also.
“The RSS is not a banned organisation. Some of its leaders are in Raj Bhawan and most of the present ministers are from its cadres. Its contributions are immense,“ he said.
The ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) played down his criticism and said there was nothing new in his latest press conference. “He has been telling about Kannur varsity incident for months together. Ragesh was in fact trying to pacify the angry protestors. After watching the video every day, he can invent so many new things and plots. Let him make such baseless charges,” said party state secretary M V Govindan. “It seems he has lost his balance,” said LDF convener E P Jayarajan. State Congress chief K Sudhakaran said his charges were serious and sought a high-level probe. “The CPI(M) is notorious for silencing its political opponents. But we have no idea why the governor waited for so long,” he said.
