SFI Protest Against Saffron Agenda in Universities in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram:

In a powerful display of student resistance, hundreds of Students’ Federation of India (SFI) activists marched across multiple university campuses in Kerala on Tuesday, voicing strong opposition to what they described as coordinated efforts to impose an RSS- inspired ideological agenda on the state’s higher education system.

The protests, organised statewide, were aimed at recent actions by university administrations and Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, who also serves as Chancellor of the universities. Students and allied groups allege that a clear pattern is emerging, where academic autonomy is being undermined and universities are being drawn into the ideological orbit of the Sangh Parivar.

At Kannur University, SFI workers breached police barricades and marched to the Vice- Chancellor’s office, braving water cannons to stage a determined sit-in protest. At Calicut University in Malappuram, tensions flared briefly as students clashed with police while advancing toward the administrative block.

In the capital, a massive SFI march converged at the Kerala University headquarters. Protesters pushed through the gates, flooded the premises, and raised slogans demanding the resignation of Acting Vice -Chancellor Mohanan Kunnummal and denouncing Governor Arlekar’s continued interference in university matters.

The agitation comes amid growing unrest in campuses following several administrative decisions seen as aligned with the Sangh Parivar’s ideology. A major flashpoint occurred at Kerala University when the Acting Vice- Chancellor suspended the Registrar, K S Anil Kumar, for cancelling a private event attended by the Governor at the Senate Hall, where a portrait of Bharat Mata holding a saffron flag was prominently displayed. The Registrar was later reinstated by the University Syndicate, but the incident deepened fears of saffronisation of academic spaces.

The latest controversy has been fuelled by University of Calicut Vice- Chancellor P Raveendran’s participation in a delegates’ conference of Seva Bharati, an RSS- affiliated organisation, in Malappuram. Raveendran, a former Congress -aligned teachers' union member, was appointed V-C in 2024 by then -Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, reportedly against the wishes of the Left -led state government. His praise for Seva Bharati’s work during the event has further alarmed student and teacher unions.

Responding to these developments, CPI M state secretary M V Govindan strongly condemned the emerging pattern of ideological interference. Speaking to the media after addressing the protesting students at Kerala University, Govindan stated:

He added that claims of special privileges under the guise of education would not be entertained and affirmed that the student agitation would intensify in the days ahead.

The SFI has declared that their struggle is not just about administrative decisions, but about defending the secular, democratic ethos of public education in Kerala. They argue that the recent actions of the Governor and certain Vice-Chancellors are deliberate steps toward eroding academic independence and bending institutions to suit a Hindutva-driven ideological agenda.