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Kerala University Row Deepens as Police Book SFI Leaders Over VC Car Blockade

Police named SFI's state chief among activists after a campus protest targeting the interim vice chancellor over a caste-abuse case against a dean.

Overview

  • Thiruvananthapuram police registered a case against SFI state president Siva Prasad and others for allegedly blocking Vice Chancellor Mohanan Kunnummal’s car, acting on a complaint from the university registrar.
  • Sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Kerala Police Act, and the Kerala Public Way Restriction of Assemblies and Processions Act were invoked in the FIR at Cantonment police station.
  • Protests escalated on Wednesday as activists scaled campus walls, police deployed water cannons, and officers ultimately escorted the VC’s vehicle out after repeated blockades.
  • The unrest stems from an FIR against Sanskrit department head C. N. Vijayakumari under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which she disputes while citing academic grounds for refusing to sign a scholar’s thesis and plagiarism claims reported against the scholar.
  • A senate meeting turned chaotic when the VC declined to remove the dean, the registrar lodged a separate complaint alleging obstruction and attempted assault, and a Syndicate meeting is set for November 18 as Left groups pledge to continue their agitation.