Thiruvananthapuram: Tension erupted at the Kerala University headquarters on Wednesday after activists of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) blocked the car of Vice-Chancellor Dr Mohanan Kunnummal and clashed with police. The protest was part of an ongoing agitation over alleged casteist remarks made against a PhD scholar by Dr CN Vijayakumari, Head of the Sanskrit Department and Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies in Kariavattom campus.

Police detained several protesters to clear the way for the VC’s vehicle. Visuals aired by news channels showed SFI activists lying on the bonnet of the car and shouting slogans. The protest continued inside the campus premises as students raised slogans demanding action.

During the university senate meeting held earlier in the day, CPM members demanded the expulsion of Vijayakumari over her alleged casteist remarks. The meeting witnessed heated exchanges between CPM and BJP members, with Left members displaying placards demanding the professor's dismissal.

SFI has been staging protests at the Kariavattom campus since Monday, demanding Vijayakumari’s resignation. The student outfit, affiliated with the CPM, accused the VC of shielding the professor and alleged that Vijayakumari has links with the Sangh Parivar.

On November 9, the Sreekaryam police registered a case against Vijayakumari based on a complaint filed by Vipin Vijayan, a research scholar who accused her of humiliating him by using his caste name.

According to the FIR, Vijayakumari allegedly refused to sign the Vanchiyoor native’s PhD thesis after his open defence on October 15. When Vipin later approached her again seeking her signature to complete the process, she allegedly made casteist remarks in front of other teachers and students.

In his complaint, Vipin also alleged that the professor had been making similar caste-based comments since 2015, when he joined the MPhil programme at the Kariavattom campus under her supervision.

Earlier, when the controversy surfaced, Vijayakumari denied making any casteist remarks. She claimed she had refused to sign the thesis because the scholar lacked sufficient knowledge of Sanskrit and that his work contained several issues. It was also alleged that Vipin had plagiarised portions of his research paper from other works.

Vijayakumari has been booked under Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which pertain to intentionally insulting or abusing a member of the SC/ST community by caste name in public view.