Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Monday ramped up his attack on the Left Front government, saying its single point agenda is to silence those who differ with it and reminded the CM that he cannot be intimidated easily.
He released the video of 2019 history congress inaugural session in Kannur (north Kerala) in which he was allegedly heckled and also the three letters written by the CM requesting him to hold the position of the chancellor with a promise that varsities will be given full autonomy and there would not be any political interference.
Two big screens were installed in Raj Bhawan press conference venue to show the proceedings of the history congress and he reiterated his allegation that it was a well-planned and executed incident and protestors including historian Irfan Habib tried to attack him.
“You can see in the video of a functionary of the CMO was trying to prevent police from discharging their duty. Instead of controlling protestors he was blocking police,” the governor said after watching the video. He said the video of the incident was procured from the government’s public relations department.
“Initially, you can see him sitting on the dais with me and when protests started, he was with protestors and blocking police men from discharging their duty,” he said referring to the alleged role played by former MP KK Ragesh who is now the CM’s secretary. When asked why he was releasing details of the incident after three years, he said in a criminal offence there was no time limit and he was forced to make them public after the government took several measures to intimidate him.
“The Section 124 of the IPC says when anyone show disrespect and protest against the President or Governor it invites action immediately. It is a cognisible offence and if proved guilty invites 7-year jail. But here the CM’s office intervened and prevented police from taking action,” he said, adding some of the senior police officers told him that they were helpless.
He said protestors mostly from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia and Aligarh Muslim University were holding placards and black flags and they were allowed a free entry by organisers deliberately. He said being the head of the state, he cannot instruct police to file a case and the government was duty-bound but it conveniently overlooked it thinking that “such incidents will intimidate him and he will turn pliable”.
Khan said in the state where people wearing black shirts were randomly arrested it should not have happened.
“In a democracy one should respect law. Some people think it is legitimate to silence those who differ with them. Don’t try to intimidate me I have seen enough,” he said during the two-hour-long press conference.
Slams LDF convenor, two former ministers
The governor said if the ruling front convenor can attack two of his co-passengers onboard an aircraft and invited a travel ban such people could have attacked him easily in a function like this. He was referring to LDF convenor EP Jayarajan’s alleged manhandling of two youths who raised slogans against the CM which later invited a travel ban on Jayarajan.
“A former minister (KT Jaleel) even questioned the territorial integrity of the country and spoke in the language of Pakistani. And another minister (Saji Cherian) was dropped for talking against the Constitution. But the government ignores them and busy installing party functionaries in key positions,” he said, adding he was not against any ideology and late communist ideologue EMS Namboodiripad had supported him when he took a position in the Shah Bano case.
Talking about the LDF leader’s charge that he was trying to weaken the democratically elected government; he said democracy does not mean that you should be party to wrongs doings and injustices. “I am here as long as I enjoy confidence of the President who appointed me. They can complain to the President,” he said.
Re-appointment of Kannur VC
At the press conference, he released copies of three letters that the CM had written to him assuring that the government would not interfere with the running of universities. He said despite these letters the CM turned a mute spectator to the milking of universities for party gains. He said he was unwilling to give another term to the Kannur vice-chancellor but the CM came to him with a personal request that the university is in his home district and allow him to continue.
“I will not be a party to the appointment underqualified and unqualified relatives of those in power in varsities. I don’t have any personal issues with anyone but I have certain duty to perform and I can’t turn a blind eye towards such practices,” he said referring to the recent appointment of Priya Varghese, the CM’s private secretary KK Ragesh’s wife in Kannur university allegedly bypassing eligible candidates.
He said when in one of the letters, he quoted some of the reports of eminent scientist CNR Rao and historian KN Panikkar about the dipping standard of higher education sector in the state the CM wrote back saying they were trying to denigrate the state and its achievements. “I was really shocked to see his reply. Same yardstick is applied to me saying I was against Kannur university,” he lamented.
His meeting with RSS chief
Talking about his meeting with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat in Thrissur on Saturday, Khan said some people were trying to whip it up and he has already made it clear it was a courtesy meeting. “While I was in Thrissur, I came to know he is in town and made a courtesy call. I don’t know why some people made it a big controversy,” he said, adding he attended many RSS functions earlier also.
“The RSS is not a banned organisation. Some of its leaders are in Raj Bhawan and most of the present ministers are from its cadres. Its contributions are immense. It is wrong to connect my personal visit with the press briefing,” he said.
But the ruling CPI(M) played down his criticism, saying there was nothing new in his latest press conference. “He has been telling about Kannur varsity incident for months together. Ragesh was in fact trying to pacify angry protestors. After watching the video every day, he can invent so many new things and plots. Let him make such baseless charges,” said party state secretary MV Govindan.
“It seems he has lost his balance,” said LDF convener E P Jayarajan.
Congress state chief K Sudhakaran said his charges were serious and sought a high-level probe. “The CPI(M) is notorious for silencing its political opponents. But we have no idea why the Governor waited for so long,” he said.
