: While the Bharatiya Janata Party and Sangh Parivar outfits are attempting to give the Government Victoria College ‘grave’ issue a national dimension by projecting the retired Principal N. Sarasu as a Dalit woman insulted by students and teachers belonging to Left forums, the pro-CPI(M) Association of Kerala Government College Teachers (AKGCT) and Students Federation of India (SFI) contend that the issue has been blown out of proportion by Hindutva elements. No caste, gender or community issues are involved in it.
“The BJP is now attempting to project it as a Dalit issue to recover from the damage it suffered in the Rohith Vemula and Kanhaiya Kumar issues. Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy’s remarks after meeting Ms. Sarasu are indicative of that. Our organisation does not support such modes of protest,” says SFI college union chairman Anand Jayan.
“I fail to understand the rationale behind her allegation that SFI activists dug the grave at the behest of the AKGCT. The inscription on the grave mentioned no name. It vaguely stated that misrule of 26 years had ended. Ms. Sarasu had put in 29 years of service,” points out S. Suma, unit secretary of the AKGCT and a Hindi lecturer.
“We are against creating symbolic graves and an impartial investigation is required. The former Principal is targeting us as wished by the Sangh Parivar,” she said.
“Among the 97 teachers at the college, 62 are members of the AKGCT. We decide the nature of protests collectively. During the eight months when Ms. Sarasu was Principal, we had filed many complaints with the Collegiate Education Director on her actions. But we had never attempted any undemocratic means of protest,’’ said P.V. Anil Kumar, an English Department faculty.
“I am a Dalit and in this case, no caste or gender issue is involved. Attempts are on to make political mileage out of the issue,” he said.
Forums seek impartial probe
into issue, say
issue blown out
of proportion
