Political support for students’ agitation

SFI students staging a protest near the law academy in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.

The agitation by students of the Kerala Law Academy Law College is being widely supported by leaders of major political parties.

The stir received further momentum on Monday with politicians including CPI district secretary G.R. Anil, CPI(M) leader V. Sivankutty, Congress MLA K. Muraleedharan, and BJP State secretary V.V. Rajesh addressing the agitators.

In stark contrast to the violent scenes on the campus a day ago, on Monday the protesters restricted themselves to the agitation pandals for most part of the day.

The students accused Principal P. Lekshmi Nair of adopting a partisan attitude while awarding internal marks. The college authorities subjected girls to mental harassment, a student claimed.

The joint agitation, which the KSU-AISF-MSF combine was staging for six days, received support from the ABVP .

KSU unit president Christin Mathew said the unions had decided to keep at bay their ideological differences so as not to dilute the seriousness of the issues. Even while seeking the resignation of Ms. Nair, the SFI decided against aligning itself with the joint agitation.

Principal responds

The Principal termed the allegations baseless and said that attempts made to enforce discipline on the college premises had ruffled a few feathers. “The demonstration is politically motivated with each students’ organisations trying to prove their might over the other. Allegations such as CCTV cameras installed in a manner that invaded the privacy of girls in the hostel are false and are intended to malign me,” she said.

KSU activists laid siege to the office of the University of Kerala Pro Vice-Chancellor N. Veeramanikandan demanding the varsity’s intervention in the issue.