Thiruvananthapuram: Opposiion leader VD Satheesan on Wednesday slammed the Students' Federation of India (SFI) over Tuesday’s protest at the Kerala University headquarters. He alleged the student activists behaved like goons by attacking university staff, students who came to obtain their certificates, and police personnel.

SFI is the CPM-affiliated student outfit.

“It was a clear case of 'goondaism'. The LDF government has always shown intolerance towards protests. When the opposition protested against the Health Minister, they argued that attacks against a particular minister should be avoided. But now, their student outfit is engaged in a violent agitation demanding the resignation of the Kerala University Vice-Chancellor,” he said.

Satheesan accused the police and the government of supporting the SFI’s violent actions and demanded that the CPM take control of the SFI activists.

Taking a dig at the higher education department, Satheesan alleged that 12 universities across the state currently do not have permanent VCs.

“Syndicates and interim Vice-Chancellors often clash in universities. As a result, students become the victims of administrative lapses. Academic values are deteriorating in the higher education sector. Instead of taking action to address the issue, the CPM secretary himself walked into Kerala University and backed the violent protest,” he added.

He further said that the Kerala police’s conduct during the protest was a shame for the entire state. Satheesan argued that Kerala has never witnessed such a violent protest in any university.

“SFI should have staged their protest at the Raj Bhavan if they are opposing the Governor’s RSS-aligned politics. This protest was a move to divert attention from the issues plaguing Kerala’s public health sector,” he alleged.

He was referring to the collapse of a building at the Kotayam Medical College Hospital and the opposition protest against the health minister.