Kerala higher education minister asks VCs to avoid political events, ideological stands

Keralam Higher Education Minister Roji M John has said the Vice Chancellors of universities in the state should refrain from participating in political events and avoid taking public stands that could cause ideological polarisation.

The minister, in a statement on Monday, said that taking such stands was not appropriate for the higher education sector. John's statement came in the wake of Kerala University Vice-Chancellor (VC) Mohanan Kunnummal's recent remarks at an RSS event that those who do not say 'Vande Mataram' do not know who their mother is.

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The minister said that Kunnummal was continuing as VC due to the previous LDF government. He also asked VCs in the state to uphold the dignity of the position they hold. Regarding the protest at the Kalady University, John said that the government was not against democratic agitations, but certain etiquettes need to be followed.

He said that a very crude form of protest was adopted at the university against the VC, Ciza Thomas, a woman. The minister said that police have registered cases in connection with the protest at the university and will take steps in accordance with it. The CPI(M)'s student wing, SFI, had on August 13 protested in the university campus over alleged lack of facilities there. The activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI) had allegedly clashed with the police and Thomas had claimed that she was manhandled by some of the protestors.