KOCHI: The Maharaja’s College council has suspended four students affiliated to the Students Federation of India (SFI), including college union chairman, in connection with the burning of the Principal’s chair.
Though a decision in this regard was taken last week, the council delayed its execution in view of the campus playing host to ‘Maharajakeeyam’, a grand meeting of the college alumni, last Sunday.
Notices were issued to the students concerned on Wednesday, asking them to present their case before the committee constituted to inquire into the burning of the Principal’s chair. With this, the number of students suspended from the outfit in the wake of the incident has gone up to six.
In another development, a meeting of the Left-affiliated All Kerala Government College Teachers Association (AKGCTA) removed its college unit secretary who was under a cloud following his alleged involvement in the incident.
Earlier this week, the inquiry committee probing the incident had found that six students affiliated to the SFI were directly involved in the incident. The college council had initially suspended two of them.
The committee will also start a detailed probe into the role of students in the burning of the Principal’s chair on January 18, according to a senior member of the college council.
The direct involvement of the six students was ascertained on the basis of the visuals of the incident recorded by television channels. The committee found that two students had forcibly removed the chair from the Principal’s office.
The committee found that one student had poured petrol over the chair, while another set it on fire. Two students were found thrashing the chair with sticks. They had staged the incident as part of protests against “moral policing” by the Principal.
The council had earlier decided to forward the report of a panel appointed by it to the Directorate of Collegiate Education seeking disciplinary action against seven faculty members affiliated to the AKGCTA for their involvement in the incident.
