Did Kerala govt reject Governor’s proposal to confer D.Litt on President, asks Chennithala

Referring to Khan’s statement, former Opposition leader Chennithala said the government should reveal whether the denial of D.Litt to the President was the “issue that affects the dignity of the country”.

Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala (file photo)

As a stand-off between the Governor and the state government continues in Kerala, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Friday asked whether the CPI(M)-led government had intervened to have the University of Kerala reject Governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s suggestion to confer honorary D.Litt on President Ram Nath Kovind.

Khan had on Thursday reiterated his decision not to discharge any duty as the chancellor of universities in Kerala, a decision he had conveyed to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan earlier this month. “There are several serious issues, which I did not want to disclose. There are issues which affect the dignity of the country. They are very serious issues,” Khan had said on Thursday.

Referring to Khan’s statement, former Opposition leader Chennithala said the government should reveal whether the denial of D.Litt to the President was the “issue that affects the dignity of the country”.

“Those holding responsible positions in the government should reveal whether the Governor had suggested to the V-C (vice-chancellor) of Kerala University to confer honorary D.Litt to the President of the nation. Was this suggestion denied by Kerala University at the intervention of the government?” he asked.

Chennithala said people wanted to know whether the V-C of Kerala University sought the opinion of the government regarding the D.Litt, instead of placing the matter before the university syndicate. “Has the government got any right to intervene in such matters of the university?” he asked.

In response to the Congress leader, Kerala Higher Education Minister Prof R Bindu said Kerala University did not seek any opinion from the government regarding conferring honorary D.Litt on the President. “It is within the powers of the university… We haven’t intervened in that issue,” she said.

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