SFI runs up rows, keeps Pinarayi Vijayan govt on its toes

A few days ago, the annual youth festival at the University of Kerala was abruptly cut short following clashes between the activists of the SFI and the Kerala Students Union (KSU), the student wing of the principal Opposition Congress. The accused from both sides were booked by the police.

The SFI was accused of allegedly assaulting the KSU activists who turned up at the venue of the festival which started on March 7. The KSU alleged that the SFI members targeted its activists from colleges where it leads the student unions.

Mar Ivanios College, where the KSU won the students union polls this year after a gap of 24 years, lodged a complaint with Governor Arif Mohammed Khan that its students were allegedly threatened by the SFI cadres.

However, SFI leader and University Students Union chairman Vijay Vimal accused the KSU and the ABVP, the RSS’ student wing, of allegedly derailing the festival. He alleged that both the KSU and the ABVP worked against the festival at the behest of some quarters.

The SFI also finds itself in the dock over the suicide of festival jury member and dance trainer P N Shaji, who faced bribery charges in connection with the margamkali (a dance form) competition. SFI activists had alleged that Shaji and two others had taken bribes for rigging the results of the dance competition at the festival, and lodged a complaint with the police. Shaji was also allegedly detained by them at the festival venue. Leaving a suicide note pleading innocence, Shaji died by suicide on Wednesday, according to police. The Opposition has held the SFI responsible for his death.

The festival also landed in a row as the SFI sought to name it “Intifada”, which is used to describe the Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of its territories.

The University of Kerala prevented the University Students Union from doing it, which said the festival was given this name to flag “Israel’s atrocities against Palestine” in its continuing war. The union was forced to backtrack following a directive from Vice-Chancellor Mohanan Kunnummal, who acted on a complaint from the ABVP.

Last month, a similar controversy erupted at St Thomas College at Pala in Kottayam, where the SFI named the venues of the college union festival as Palestine, Babari and Manipur. The Church-run college took exception to the SFI’s move, which also upset the local community as well as the Kerala Congress (M), an ally of the LDF. The hall, named as Palestine by the SFI for the festival, was originally named after a cardinal of the Catholic Church.

Following these rows, the Sangh Parivar raked up its allegations that Islamic extremist elements had “infiltrated” into the SFI after the Centre banned the Popular Front of India and its affiliated outfits including the Campus Front.

Referring to the uproar over the Sidharthan death case, CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam said the SFI activists were not functioning as per the basic tenets of the organisation. “Things that happened now do not go in tune with its tradition,” he said. His CPI(M) counterpart M V Govindan however played it down, saying that “We have never acknowledged any aberrations. Members of various organisations, including SFI, are involved in it. There would be corrective steps”.

The CPI(M) had recently thrown its weight behind the SFI when its slogan-shouting cadres showed black flags to Governor Arif Mohammed Khan during its protest against the nomination of the RSS/ABVP members to various university bodies. As Governor Khan targeted CM Vijayan over these incidents, the CPI(M) held that the student outfit had a right to hold protests. It was the SFI campaign that led to Khan getting the CRPF protection from the Centre.

The SFI dominates college and university campuses across Kerala, winning most of their student union elections regularly. It has been often blamed for not giving functional space to other student organisations. However, its history has also been marked with major campaigns and struggles for the rights of the student community.

The SFI had been known for holding stormy agitations on campuses during the Congress-led UDF regimes in the past. With the CPI(M)-led LDF ruling the state since 2016, the SFI does not seem to have much political space now to take on the incumbent government over its policies. The Vijayan government brought several reforms in the education sector and has even favoured foreign universities in the state. The SFI, which had once fought against private investment in the education sector, has been silent on these issues.

Last year, some state SFI leaders were allegedly found to be involved in the certificate forgery and impersonation scandals. SFI state secretary P M Arsho was shown as having passed a semester exam at Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, even though he said he did not take this exam.

Another scandal broke out over an SFI leader A Visakh’s alleged involvement in an impersonation case at Christian College in Thiruvananthapuram’s Kattakkada. Visakh’s name appeared in the list of the college students’ union election for the post of the university union councillor (UUC), which was won by a female student Anagha. It was alleged that the SFI wanted to bring Visakh to the organisation’s university union leadership. He was booked on charges of forgery and impersonation by the police. Stung by the scandal, the SFI expelled him.