‘Politicising educational institutions shouldn’t be tolerated’: Poster referencing Savarkar at Calicut University upsets Kerala Governor

A miffed Arlekar took it up at the Senate meeting. “I was just reading a banner there now, ‘We need a chancellor, not Savarkar’. Was Savarkar an enemy of this country? The Chancellor is here with you. You do whatever you want to do with the Chancellor. But what bad things has Savarkar done?”

Savarkar, a right-wing icon, “never thought of his own affairs”.

“His home affairs…his house…his family… never. He always thought of others. He always tried to give something to others. I was not in fact intending to talk about Savarkar. But the banner has compelled me. Mr Vice-Chancellor, you have to take care of all such things. Politicising of educational institutions should not be tolerated,” he said.

This is the first time Arlekar made a critical remark on politics at educational institutions in Kerala after assuming office early January this year.  His predecessor, Arif Mohammed Khan, had a running feud with the CPI(M) government over matters in the higher education sector, claiming that it had been “highly politicised”.

Calicut University had seen a series of protests from the SFI during Khan’s tenure.