Kerala Governor Slams Chief Minister Over University Poster Row
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan severely criticized Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the controversy to posters and banners against Arif Mohammed Khan in front of the Calicut University guest house. The governor alleged on Sunday that the banners were put up by the state police on the direction of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Kerala Raj Bhavan released a press release on December 17 over this controversial issue. “Hon”ble Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has taken serious note of the action of the State Police, on the direction of the Chief Minister, in placing posters defamatory to the Governor in the campus of Calicut University,” says the press release. The Raj Bhavan also mentioned that black banners and posters have been placed inside the university campus, just outside the guest house where the governor is staying.
Arif Mohammed Khan also called this incident a “breakdown of the constitutional machinery.” Kerala Raj Bhavan added in its statement that the governor feels that this cannot happen without the direction of the Chief Minister and that this clearly marks the beginning of the collapse of the constitutional machinery in the state. “He said that such deliberate actions of the Chief Minister precipitate the breakdown of constitutional machinery,” the statement added. The Calicut University campus witnessed dramatic scenes on Sunday night as the governor directed the police to remove banners put up against him on the campus. However, shortly thereafter, SFI put up more banners.
The New Indian Express reported that the governor has sought an explanation from the Vice Chancellor of Calicut University on how banners against the Chancellor were allowed to be put up by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). SFI is staging massive protests against Governor Arif Mohammed Khan. The student outfit alleges that the governor has been pushing the BJP-RSS nominees to the senate of various universities in Kerala. Notably, the Kerala governor is the chancellor of the universities in the state.
