Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Assembly Speaker and CPM legislator P Sreeramakrishnan has done something hitherto unimaginable. He has lashed out at the Students Federation of India (SFI) activists at the University College here over allegedly stabbing a fellow activist, triggering widespread protest against the student wing of the ruling CPM.
Sreeramakrishnan, known as a no-nonsense person, has vented his anger in a poem, titled Akhil, posted on Facebook.
Akhil, a third-year political science student, was stabbed on the college campus on Friday and is admitted to the Medical College here.
In his poem, Sreeramakrishnan says he was heartbroken and his head stooped, unable to bear the shame. Sreeramakrishnan's reaction came even as top CPM leaders kept mum on the untoward incidents on the campus, known as a Left fortress.
Coming down heavily on the culprits, the Speaker wrote that "your stench is a blot on history".
"We don't want this heaven of nauseating foul smell.
The hell of absolute defeat is better than this," his poem reads.
He also asks the culprits what ideology spurred them to brazen it out.
Sreeramakrishnan's criticism is directly aimed at the SFI leadership who has been reigning over the campus in a despotic manner for years.
Stating that "there are no two ways in front of a mistake," Sreeramakrishnan in his poem urges the culprits to apologise with their heads hanging in shame. He concludes the poem with an appeal to the culprits to learn from the past traditions of the institution.
The Ponnani MLA is a former president of the SFI.
Sreeramakrishnan's harsh criticism assumes significance in the backdrop of the protests against the SFI unit in Thiruvananthapuram. Hundreds of students of the college, many of them owing allegiance to the SFI, took to the streets on Friday after the attack on Akhil.
The agitating students alleged in front of TV cameras that the SFI leadership of the college was tyrannic and suppressing the freedom of students. They also accused the student outfit of engaging in brazen moral policing on the campus.
A minor altercation among students over singing of songs in the college canteen flared up into a full-blown campus brawl leading to the stabbing of Akhil. Akhil, who was stabbed twice below his chest, was rushed straight to the General Hospital.
After first aid, Akhil was taken to the Medical College. Akhil had to undergo an emergency surgery.
The police have filed attempt to murder case against six people including SFI unit president Nasim. Nasim is also an accused in another case of assault on police officers.
The national president of SFI V P Sanu announced the dismissal of the SFI unit on the University College campus after students cutting across party lines staged a protest in front of the College and then marched towards the Secretariat demanding that the unit be disbanded. A few minutes before Sanu's announcement, the SFI district secretary Riyas had said that the SFI had no role in the incident. However, later in the day the district committee said that Nasim, Shivarenjith, Ibrahim, Adwaith and Aromal have been suspended from the student body.
