Suspensions, FIR against students: Central University accused of anti-Muslim targeting, Hindutva push
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A student protest against a seminar marking the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram at the Central University of Kerala in Kasaragod has escalated, with the university suspending five students and police registering a case against 25 others.
Student organisations have accused the administration of targeting Muslim students, imposing Hindutva politics on the campus and facilitating its “saffronisation”, while demanding the resignation of chief proctor K Sreekumar.
The two-week suspensions, issued with immediate effect on Thursday evening, directed the students to vacate their hostels and leave the campus, prompting a confrontation with Sreekumar, followed by a blockade of the administration building, a boycott of classes and protests demanding the withdrawal of the orders.
Those suspended include Syed Ali, secretary of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) unit at the university; Muhammed Yaseen, president of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) unit; SFI secretariat member Aaved VB; and Muslim Students’ Federation (MSF) activists Shabeer and Thakiyuddin. NSUI alleged that the administration had targeted the students along communal lines, pointing to their Muslim names, according to Maktoob media.
The Bekal police, meanwhile, registered a suo motu case against 25 students on Wednesday night, alleging that they had assembled and disrupted the seminar, which began on 6 October, while invoking Sections 189(2), 189(3), 191(2), 223 and 190 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita in the FIR.
The seminar was jointly organised by the university, the Sahitya Akademi and the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Sahitya Parishad. J Nandakumar, national convenor of Prajna Pravah, the intellectual wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), was invited as keynote speaker, prompting objections from student organisations that viewed the event as an attempt to bring Sangh Parivar politics into the university.
According to the police, students disrupted a presentation by Sreekumar, raised “Go Back” slogans and switched off the microphone, while the protesters accused the police of preventing registered participants from entering the venue and pushing them, allegedly using lathis, with the SFI claiming that around ten students, including women, sustained minor injuries.
“We are not against the nation or nationalism. But we are against saffronism,” Yaseen said, arguing that the administration was portraying opposition to the seminar as hostility towards Vande Mataram.
The protest intensified after Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar alleged that the disruption reflected a wider conspiracy and called for those spreading “anti-Vande Mataram” sentiments to be identified.
Students subsequently interrupted a presentation on the seminar’s second day, raising slogans including “RSS Go Back”, before agreeing to let the programme continue after being promised an opportunity to ask questions.
Student organisations, excluding the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), also demanded Sreekumar’s resignation, alleging selective disciplinary action and preferential treatment towards ABVP activists. They cited earlier university programmes involving RSS-linked organisations and speakers associated with the BJP as evidence of what they described as an emerging pattern of saffronisation.