Kasaragod: Bekal police have registered a case against 25 unnamed students of Central University of Kerala for disrupting the Chief Proctor's session during a seminar on Vande Mataram on Wednesday.

The session began after Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar left the venue following his controversial address at the valedictory function of the two-day national seminar.

Police said the protest by students amounted to unlawful assembly, rioting, and disobedience and booked them under Sections 189 (2), 189 (3), 191 (2), 223 and 190 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Rioting carries a maximum punishment of two years’ imprisonment.

Interestingly, the case was registered by the police on their own without a complaint from the university or Sahitya Akademi, which organised the two-day seminar on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram.

The FIR was registered late on Wednesday based on a complaint by Bekal Circle Inspector Ajith Kumar P, who was deployed for law-and-order duty during the Governor’s visit to the university.

According to the FIR, the Circle Inspector received information that students belonging to various student organisations had formed an ‘unlawful assembly’ and were disrupting a presentation by university chief proctor and Linguistics professor Sreekumar P, with the possibility that he could be assaulted.

Ajith Kumar said he entered the library hall along with three police personnel and saw around 25 students below the stage, raising slippers and shoes and demanding that Sreekumar stop his presentation.

Though the police officer asked the students to return to their seats, they ‘refused to comply’, the FIR says.

The officer also said that without police intervention, there could have been a major confrontation between student organisations and the organisers.

On Tuesday, students had staged a protest accusing the organisers of turning the event into a platform for RSS ideologues and members. They objected to the participation of J Nandakumar, national convenor of Prajna Pravah, the intellectual wing of the RSS.

On Wednesday, however, Governor Arlekar portrayed the previous day's protest as opposition to Vande Mataram and called for action against those behind such protests. His remarks triggered the second round of protests.

BJP condemns protest
Meanwhile, BJP Kannur regional president K Shreekanth described the raising of slippers and shoes at the seminar as an “uncivilised” form of protest and an expression of “political bankruptcy”.

He said disagreement with RSS ideology should be expressed through criticism and debate rather than by insulting guests or raising footwear.