Vande Mataram: CUK protests resume after VC refuses to withdraw suspension; teachers’ body calls for fairness

Kasaragod: Students at the Central University of Kerala resumed their sit-in protest on Monday evening after Vice-Chancellor Prof Siddu P Algur refused to revoke the suspension of five students, while an independent teachers’ association raised concerns over the university giving space to speakers representing “extreme ideologies” during the Vande Mataram seminar.

After suspending their sit-in for the weekend, the students resumed their protest in front of the Administrative Block around 6 pm after talks with the Vice-Chancellor Monday evening failed to resolve the impasse. "The VC rejected our demand to withdraw the suspension orders, leaving us with no choice but to resume our protest," said Adwaith, an SFI activist.

The students, affiliated to various organisations except ABVP, also demanded the removal of the Proctor, Prof Sreekumar, who suspended the five students for allegedly disrupting his presentation during the two-day national seminar on Vande Mataram. "The VC said we may file a complaint against the proctor and he will look into it," he said.

Meanwhile, the Central University of Kerala Teachers’ Association (CUKTA), an independent teachers’ body that had been largely inactive, has revived itself in the wake of the controversy surrounding the two-day seminar on Vande Mataram, organised by Sahitya Akademi on the campus.

In a statement to the Vice-Chancellor, CUKTA expressed concern over the suspension of students and the police case registered against 25 unnamed students in connection with the protests during the seminar.
CUKTA said that the national seminar "ended in discontent among a section of the students and faculty members and has seriously disrupted the harmonious atmosphere of the campus. The protests happened on both days, and the large presence of police force on the campus was an unpleasant sight for any academic institution. The subsequent suspension of some students has worsened the situation.

The organisers of the seminar "sidelined large sections of students, and invited key speakers who represent certain extreme ideologies which seemed inappropriate for the secular environment of the campus," said the statement.

It called for an impartial review of the disciplinary action and to ensure procedural fairness for the affected students.

The statement has brought out the differing positions within the university’s teaching community. The university unit of the RSS-linked Akhil Bharatiya Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh, headed by Registrar-in-charge Prof V P Joshith, had earlier raised suspicions about the presence of “anti-national forces” behind the student protests.

CUKTA, which had around 25 members, gained eight new members since issuing its statement, an office-bearer said.

The seminar, organised by the Sahitya Akademi in collaboration with the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Sahitya Parishad, was held on October 6 and 7. Students had protested against the participation of RSS-linked speakers, particularly J Nandakumar, national convenor of Prajna Pravah, the RSS’s intellectual wing.

On October 7, Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar dubbed the agitation against the RSS as a protest against Vande Mataram. Students responded by disrupting the presentation by Chief Proctor Sreekumar, prompting police to register a case against 25 unnamed students. The proctor later suspended five students, triggering an ongoing campus agitation.