Kerala: Guv hits streets amid tension with govt; SFI protests escalate

Malappuram/Kozhikode (Kerala), Dec 18 (PTI) Amidst the ongoing row between the ruling Left in Kerala and the Governor, the state witnessed dramatic scenes on Monday with Arif Mohammed Khan taking to the streets to interact with people, while CPI(M)'s student outfit SFI protested against him and burnt his effigy in colleges across the southern state.

At the same time, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan questioned the way Khan conducted himself and said that his government may consider approaching the Union Government seeking the recall of the Governor.

Incensed by the SFI protests and Vijayan's comments a day ago that the Governor was making provocative statements to destroy peace in the state, Khan launched a scathing attack against them by calling them "bullies".

In a vieled reference to the CM, the Governor also said that Vijayan was behind the violence in the north Kerala district of Kannur.

Khan also referred to the Students' Federation of India (SFI) as a "criminal organisation" and its activists as "criminals and goondas hired by the CM".

The Governor, earlier in the day, said he cannot be frightened by the CM or the SFI and to prove the same he visited the busy S M Street market area, also known as the 'mithai street' famous for sweets, in Kozhikode city.

He interacted with people of all ages, including school children, in and around the crowded market area for a couple of hours, posed for photographs with them, thanked everyone for their love and affection and then returned to his guest house at the Calicut University in Malappuram district where SFI activists were gathered in hundreds with black balloons, banners, placards and wearing t-shirts demanding that he go back.

Police, deployed in large numbers at the university, had put up barricades preventing the SFI activists from approaching the guest house, but despite that, some of the protestors managed to breach the security set-up and got close to where Khan was staying before being taken into custody and removed from the area.

Subsequently, Khan went to an event within the university campus and there he told the media that no one protested against him when he was walking on the streets of Kozhikode city.

He also alleged that the CM sent them there under police protection.

"They are goondas and not students. SFI is an organisation of goondas," he alleged.

When a reporter asked him why he was provoking the students, Khan told him to "get lost".

After the event, he again met the media and reiterated that SFI activists were criminals.

"Those who want to attack you, hurt you, are not protestors. They are out and out criminals hired by the CM. They are trying to frighten me as their control over the universities has gone due to the Supreme Court verdict," Khan contended.

He also said that he took to the streets to find out who was protesting against him.

"But, no one was protesting. People showered me with love and affection. It is the vested interests who are milking the universities. There cannot be more abuse of universities than what this CM and his government has done," Khan said.

On being asked if there was any scope for a truce between him and the government, Khan said, "Law is there. Act accordingly." He said that when the apex court has made it clear that the universities' functions come under the purview of the Chancellor, the government should not interfere in that and he will not be interfering in their matters.

"So, where is the question of truce? Where is the conflict?" he asked.

When reporters asked him about the law and order situation in the state, Khan reiterated the praise he had showered on the police earlier in the day and said that the force was not being allowed to discharge its duties by the CM.

"I sympathise with them (police)," he said.

Khan also said that the state appeared to be "in the grip of a financial emergency" as the Chief Secretary had told the Kerala High Court that the government was not in a position to honour the financial guarantees given by it.

The SFI, which has been protesting against Khan across the state, said its agitation would not end anytime soon, and it would continue in the coming days.

SFI state secretary P M Arsho said that Khan will face the heat of their protests till the time he enters the gates of the Raj Bhavan.

Arsho also accused Khan of being responsible for the death of a man who had collapsed while the Governor was visiting the market area and allegedly could not be rushed to a hospital in time because of the crowd of people and security personnel there.

"From being an agent of the Sangh Parivar, he has become responsible for the death of a man due to his actions," Arsho alleged.

After protesting outside the guest house for a few hours, the SFI activists held a march and were joined by the workers of the CPI(M).

Earlier in the day, Vijayan, while addressing the media in Kollam district as part of the ongoing Nava Kerala Sadas, said Khan was trying to disrupt the peaceful atmosphere in the state by creating deliberate provocation.

Khan, meanwhile, claimed that his recent controversial remarks regarding Kannur were distorted by the CM.

"Who was the man behind the violence in Kannur? The same man who instigated violence in Kannur, he thought the way he was able to frighten the people there, he will be able to frighten me," he said in a vieled reference to the CM.

He also clarified that what he had said about Kannur was not about the place or the people living there.

The clarification comes in the wake of Vijayan, on Sunday, hitting out at the Governor over his Kannur remarks by saying it was a place that has a prominent space in the history of this country's freedom struggle.

On Saturday, addressing the media at the Calicut University, Khan had alleged that the CM was used to scaring people because he comes from Kannur which has a bloody history of killing each other.

Kerala in the last few days has witnessed dramatic scenes and verbal duels between the Governor on one side and the CM and the SFI on the other over the issue of appointments made by Khan to the senate of some universities in the state. PTI