Kasaragod: Students held protests at the Central University of Kerala on Tuesday against the presence of J Nandakumar, national convener of an RSS-linked organisation, at a Vande Mataram-related event at the institution.
Besides opposing Nandakumar’s presence at the event, activists of various student organisations, including Kerala Students Union (KSU) and Muslim Students Federation (MSF), also contended that many of them were denied entry to the programme despite registering for it.
Left-affiliated student organisations, Students Federation of India (SFI) and All India Students’ Federation (AISF), also joined the protest.
Heavy police presence was seen at the programme venue, preventing the protesting students from entering the hall where the event was being held.
The protesting students, carrying flags of their respective student organisations, shouted slogans against the RSS outside the venue and engaged in push-and-pull with the police in order to gain entry to the programme.
Several students were reportedly injured in scuffles with the police while attempting to enter the venue.
However, police denied injuries during the protests.
Later, a university official claiming to be the Dean of Student Affairs told reporters that he was not aware why registered students were being denied entry and said he will have to ask the organisers of the programme.
Police said that the protests continued till around 2 pm and after that the agitators were physically removed from the area.
Veteran CPI(M) leader and former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan criticised the police by saying that providing security to an RSS event was condemnable.
Vijayan, the Leader of Opposition, contended that the state government supported the event despite protests by the various non-Sangh Parivar student organisations.
He alleged that it has become routine for the UDF government to collude with the Sangh Parivar conspiracy to saffronise higher educational institutions and implement communal agendas on campuses.
The Marxist veteran, in a Facebook post, also questioned why an RSS leader with no academic background was invited to the event which was projected as an academic programme.
He claimed that students who had registered in advance for the event were denied entry to it by the police.
“Keralam has always strongly resisted attempts to turn educational institutions into places of hate speech and communalism. However, the use of the state police to provide a base for such radical forces is a clear indication of the RSS-friendly policy of the UDF government,” Vijayan alleged.
Terming such actions, which allegedly allow the Sangh Parivar to interfere in the state’s higher education sector, as a challenge to secular Keralam, he urged the public to raise a strong protest on the issue.
The two-day national seminar, scheduled on October 6 and 7 to mark the 150th Anniversary of Vande Mataram is being organised by the Sahitya Akademi in collaboration with the Akhil Bharatiya Sahitya Parishad and the university as part of the nationwide observance marking 150 years of the national song.
Nandakumar, national convener of Prajna Pravah, delivered the keynote address at the event, while the students told reporters that they are opposed to his presence in the programme.
The valedictory ceremony will be held on October 7, with Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, Governor of Keralam and Tamil Nadu, as the chief guest, a post on the university’s Facebook page said.
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