Kannur: The Kannur University Syndicate on Thursday passed a resolution against Governor Arif Mohammed Khan's directive asking its vice-chancellor and that of ten other state varsities to resign.
The development follows an instruction from the CPM-led Kerala government asking all the affected VCs to stay put, to defy Khan's order.
On Sunday, citing an October 21 Supreme Court order that annulled the appointment of MS Rajashree as the vice-chancellor of the Technological University on grounds that her appointment had flouted UGC norms, Khan ordered vice-chancellors of eleven state varsities to resign. The implied reason was that the process of their appointments too was dubious.
Khan had been maintaining that the CPM government was needlessly intervening in the matters of varsities to appoint close associates of its ministers or their aides, especially as professors and vice-chancellors flouting all UGC norms.
"The people who now hold these posts are incapable of discharging their duties. The whole education system in Kerala is therefore in shambles. This is why many students in Kerala seek education outside the state," Khan had said.
However, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan dismissed Khan's claim that the apex court's order could be used as a blanket verdict over the other varsities in the state.
"Anyone with common sense can understand that a court's verdict applies to that particular case - Technological University. It cannot be used to curtail the functioning of other universities," Vijayan said.
"That's not all. The Governor had not bothered to check with the vice-chancellors nor the government before tweeting his order in haste. It is not befitting the post he holds," Vijayan added.
The chief minister also clarified that the apex court had not said that MS Rajashree was not academically fit to hold such a position. "The court has only said that there were some irregularities in the appointment process. The verdict was on technicalities. There is time still to appeal the order," Vijayan said.
"Governor Khan must know better than to wield the court's order to attack our universities, and by extension, the government. He must also remember that this LDF government is a democratically elected one. His unwarranted tirade against the government will be met with equal measure," Vijayan warned.
Of the 11 vice-chancellors whom Khan had asked to resign, one has already left and one more is on the way out. Kerala University vice-chancellor V P Mahadevan Pillai retired on Monday (October 24) and A P J Abdul Kalam Technological University VC M S Rajashree's appointment had been annulled by the Supreme Court.
The other nine universities are: Mahatma Gandhi University, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Kannur University, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, University of Calicut, Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University, Kerala Digital University and Sree Narayana University. Interestingly, some of the VC appointments like Kannur, Malayalam and Fisheries had Khan's approval.
