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A fresh bout of wrangling between Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the CPI(M)-led government over appointments and administrative matters in state universities has put the ruling Left front in a spot.
Khan’s allegation of political pressure exerted by the Left dispensation in university appointments has led to the Congress-led Opposition opening a new battle front against the Pinarayi Vijayan government.
The Opposition has now demanded the resignation of Higher Education Minister Prof R Bindu, accusing her of “putting political pressure’’ on the Governor on the issue of re-appointment of Prof Gopinath Ravindran as Kannur University Vice Chancellor (VC) for a second consecutive term. The studied silence of the CPI(M) leaders is a pointer that the party is on the defensive over this snowballing controversy.
In the past rows involving Khan, the CPI(M) and the Congress had sailed together in going after him, as those issues were related to the policies of the BJP, their common adversary, at the Centre.
A former Union minister and ex-Congress leader, Arif Mohammed Khan, whom the BJP had described as a “nationalist, progressive Muslim leader” while appointing him as Kerala Governor in September 2019, has had a tense, uneasy relationship with the Vijayan government since the outset of his gubernatorial innings.
Khan has locked horns with the CPI(M) as well as the Congress over his pro-Centre stand on issues like the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and new farm laws.
His first round of showdown with the CPI(M) as well as the Congress took place in December 2019, when he backed the CAA. He faced public agitation over the CAA. When the CPI(M) and the Congress joined hands to unanimously pass a resolution in the Kerala Legislative Assembly against the CAA, Khan publicly questioned the constitutional validity of the resolution.
In December last year, Khan had also refused to give a nod for a special Assembly session for passing a resolution against the farm laws, which have now been repealed by the Narendra Modi government following farmers’ year-long protests. The Left Front had then dubbed him as an “agent of the RSS”. The Governor gave his approval to the Assembly session only after the ministers held negotiations with him.
However, there have been instances when the Governor appeared to be sticking to the Left government’s line. During his opening address to the Budget Session of the Assembly in January 2021, Khan was forced to read out the state government’s statement against the CAA, farm laws, labour code and the central agencies’ probe into the gold smuggling case. Khan had initially been reluctant to touch upon the anti-CAA para, but had to accede to the demand of the Chief Minister that “the Governor should air the state’s concern” over it.
But this time, the Governor has fired a salvo at the Vijayan government on the front of nepotism and corruption, thereby also giving the Congress ammunition against the government.
Kerala also follows the practice of the ruling fronts suggesting their nominees for appointments in state universities, which are usually cleared by the Governors in their capacity as the Chancellor of the universities. Such appointments have always been political, seeking to provide adequate representation to the dominant religious communities of Hindus, Muslims and Christians.
Amid the latest row over the re-appointment of Prof Ravindran as Kannur University VC, the Governor, who passed the order following the Higher Education Minister’s letters to him, has threatened to quit as the Chancellor and hand over this power to the CM. He asserted that he was forced to pass this order against his conscience. This indicated, the Congress charged, that Khan backed “wrong decisions” of the government despite their recurring spats.
Never did Kerala have a Governor, who, after issuing orders for appointing VCs, has commented later that he acted against his conscience under political pressure and was feeling uneasy about it.
Apart from the re-appointment of the Kannur University VC, Khan has flagged
other matters, related to the selection of candidates for top posts in other universities as well, as the reason behind his threat to step down as the Chancellor.
In this controversy, the CPI(M) sees an “RSS agenda” behind the Governor’s stand. The ruling party believes that the Governor wanted to push for his nominee as the VC of the Sanskrit University. By opposing the Governor, the party also seeks to send out a signal that it is insulating Kerala’s academic world from the Sangh Parivar’s “invasion”.
To buttress its position and make a counter-attack on the Congress, the CPI(M) says it was the Congress which nominated philosophy professor Dr K S Radhakrishnan as Sanskrit University VC. Two years ago, Radhakrishnan joined the BJP and is currently one of its state vice presidents.
Since his appointment as Kerala Governor, Khan has sought to chart out his own course. He has been active in social media and has put out his views on every significant development in the state.
In July this year, Khan had observed a day-long fast to campaign against dowry after a young woman ended her life due to dowry harassment. The CPI(M) criticised his move as it highlighted gaps in women safety measures in the state. The Governor has even taken the anti-dowry campaign to universities, visiting the families of women who died following dowry harassment.
