Overview

• Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar invoked a University Grants Commission guideline to instruct state universities to observe August 14 as 'Partition Horror Day'.
• Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Higher Education Minister Dr R Bindu condemned the directive as unconstitutional and told institutions that participation was optional.
• Only a handful of ABVP-organized events took place at campuses in Kasaragod, Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur, while most universities held minimal or online programmes.
• Student outfits including the CPI(M)-affiliated SFI, Congress’s KSU and IUML’s MSF resisted the observance, leading to poster tear-downs, effigy burnings and slogan clashes with ABVP members.
• Police intervened at multiple sites, detaining ABVP activists at Kozhikode’s Government Law College and dispersing groups to avert further disturbances.