Kerala Governor calls VC of Kannur University a criminal

On his allegation regarding a conspiracy to physically hurt him, Khan said, “I was attacked in Kannur. Later I received a report from higher quarters that this conspiracy was hatched in Delhi.” The Governor said the VC was part of that conspiracy.

He was referring to the alleged heckling he faced when he went to inaugurate the Indian History Congress hosted by Kannur University in December 2019. As the Governor was about to deliver his address, most of the delegates assembled for the event rose, voicing their protest against his stand on the Citizenship Amendment Act, which was a burning issue then.

The Governor said that according to the programme of the event approved by Raj Bhavan and agreed upon by the VC, there was not to be any departure from the timings and schedules.

“It was supposed to be 60 minutes. But the VC allowed historian Irfan Habib and others to make speeches for over one-and-a-half hours, criticising severely, addressing every question to me. When I stood up to answer the questions, within five minutes, a physical attack attempt was made on me,” he said, adding, “The shirt of my ADC, Manoj Yadav, was torn and twice they made attempts on me. It was only because of the security that they could not reach me.”

Kerala’s ruling CPI(M) said the Governor’s comments were deplorable. “The Governor should reveal what criminal activity the VC had committed. The VC had expressed his disagreement with the Governor as per the procedure and legally. Instead of responding to the VC legally and respectfully, the Governor should examine whether it is befitting to respond in a way that does not suit his position,” the CPI(M) secretariat said in a statement.

Interventions by the Governor, instead of pointing out mistakes, had crossed all limits, the CPI(M) said.

(With PTI inputs)