The crucial talks initiated by the Central University of Kerala (CUK) in its bid to address student unrest following disciplinary actions against two students, remain inconclusive.
The nearly three-hour-long meeting, held in the chamber of Vice Chancellor G. Gopakumar, was attended by P. Karunakaran, MP; K. Kunhiraman, MLA; university officials, students’ representatives, and police officials. The university, while justifying its action against G. Nagaraju — a Dalit research scholar from Telangana who was arrested in August for breaking the glass panes of a fire alarm chamber late on July 9 — agreed not to initiate any action against the student if the State government took steps to settle the case charged under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property (PDPP) Act.
The university officials also agreed to heed Mr. Karunakaran’s plea not to spoil the academic life of Akhil Thazhath, an International Relations student who was dismissed for “continuously making derogatory and abusive remarks against top university officials on social media”.
The case of Akhil would be deliberated in an executive committee meeting by the year-end, Pro Vice Chancellor K. Jayaprasad said.
Similarly, the university officials have agreed not to pursue the cases of eight students, four of them from the campus, who had taken part in the September 11 protests by the Students Federation of India (SFI) accusing the university of ‘stifling’ freedom of expression in the guise of discipline.
The university had lodged a complaint with the Bekal police stating that property worth ₹30,000 was destroyed during the agitation. “The university has agreed to receive any penal amount decided by the court,” SFI activist Siddharth Raveendran told reporters.
On the issue relating to the removal of Prasad Pannian from the headship of the English and Comparative Literature department, on the charge of posting Facebook comments in connection with the arrest of G. Nagaraju, the meeting said the university would take any decision on the ‘erring’ faculty member as per service rules.
‘Preliminary’ action
The university, which has taken a ‘preliminary’ disciplinary action against Dr. Pannian, would take a final view after carrying out a detailed inquiry into an allegation of receiving ₹3,31,688 from the University Grants Commission in connection with his US visit in 2013.
Dr. Pannian was said to have served an explanation for his action and the university would take appropriate decision in due course, Dr. Jayaprasad said.
Mr. Karunakaran, however, said he was not fully satisfied with the outcome of the deliberations.
Similar sentiments were expressed by a section of student activists on the CUK campus.
