© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
In the aftermath of the Lok Sabha poll debacle for the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala, the churning continues. On Thursday, the CPI came out strongly against the young wing of senior partner CPI(M), the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), over incidents of violence at college campuses.
This was the second time in the last seven days that the CPI, which drew a blank in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the second time in a row, has pointed fingers at the CPI(M), saying the latter requires to mend its ways to reverse the electoral setback.
CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam said that unless the SFI did so, it would become a “liability” for the Left. “The SFI is following a barbaric culture, which does not go with the style of functioning of a student outfit. They don’t know the meaning of the word Left,” he told the media in Alappuzha Thursday.
The CPI’s latest condemnation of the CPI(M) followed the alleged manhandling of the principal of Gurudev College, Kozhikode, by SFI workers after he questioned the presence of outsiders at the outfit’s helpdesk for new students.
Later, the SFI took out a march to the college, in which one of the speakers said: “If required, we’ll make a hearth on the principal’s chest.” DYFI Kozhikode district leader B P Prabeesh was allegedly heard threatening: “If the SFI decides (to attack), the scoundrel (the principal, Sunil Bhaskar) would have to be helped out of the campus by others.”
In another incident, this time on the Kerala University campus in Thiruvananthapuram, an activist of the Congress’s student wing, the Kerala Students’ Union, was allegedly attacked by a group of SFI activists.
For many, the incidents were a reminder of when SFI activists had prepared a symbolic “grave” of the principal of Government Victoria College, Palakkad, N Sarasu, on her retirement day in 2016. Sarasu, a Dalit, contested as a BJP candidate from Alathur in this year’s Lok Sabha elections, though she lost.
Addressing the state Assembly Thursday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of the CPI(M) called the claims of “gunda raj” prevailing on state campuses an attempt by some to “cover up” the state government’s “achievements in higher education”.
Replying to a notice for an adjournment motion moved by the Opposition, Vijayan said: “In incidents of campus tension, there is a narrow-minded approach to tarnish a particular student organisation. This attitude makes things volatile. Those responsible for campus violence should face action, but things should not be looked at with such a narrow-minded perspective.”
Last week, the CPI had joined the issue with its ally over allegations of gold smuggling against CPI(M) leaders. After it became known that CPI(M) Kannur leader Manu Thomas had quit the party citing the same reason, CPI leader Viswam had said: “Reports from Kannur are an insult to the Red Flag (Left).”
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly V D Satheesan said the incidents showed that the CPI(M) harboured criminals. “On every college campus, there are rooms where students are subjected to mob trials and barbaric punishments. The latest incidents show the CPI(M) is not going to correct itself even after the electoral rout,” the Congress leader said.
