Friday, March 29, 2024

Kerala Governor directs VCs of 9 universities to resign, left govt says Governor imposing RSS agenda 

In an unprecedented move, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Sunday has directed Vice Chancellors of 9 varsities in Kerala to tender resignation by Monday.

A letter, directing Vice Chancellors of 9 universities of Kerala to tender their resignation by 11:30 am on October 24, has been issued. The letter has also been emailed to VCs and Registrars of varsities concerned.

Khan, the chancellor of varsities, issued the order after the Supreme Court annulled the appointment of M.S. Rajasree as Vice-Chancellor of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU).

In a communique, the Governor alleged a violation of University Grants Commission (UGC) norms in the Vice-Chancellor appointment process.

“Upholding the verdict of Hon’ble SupremeCourt dt 21.10.22 in Civil Appeal Nos.7634-7635 of 2022(@ SLP(c)Nos.21108-21109 of 2021) Hon’ble Governor Shri Arif Mohammed Khan has directed Vice Chancellors of 9 varsities in Kerala(see image) to tender resignation,” read a tweet by PRO, Kerala Raj Bhavan.

The Raj Bhavan said the search committees had failed to submit a panel of three to five candidates to the Chancellor so the Governor could exercise his informed judgement. Instead, the committees arbitrarily proposed a single name for the top academic posts, thereby hobbling the Chancellor’s right to wield his discretion.

The nine universities are University of Kerala, Mahatma Gandhi University, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala University of Fisheries & Ocean studies, Kannur University, APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, University of Calicut, and Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University.

The announcement comes hours after the ruling LDF announced a series of demonstrations in November against the governor.

The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government viewed it as Raj Bhavan’s attempt to impose the RSS Hindu majoritarian agenda on Kerala’s storied higher education sector.

“The Governor proceeds by declaring that he is an RSS supporter. The governor’s intervention in the university issue is autocratic. Senate members were withdrawn to bring in RSS members. The Governor’s attempt is to control the higher education sector. The aim is to build resistance against this”, said the chief ruling party CPI(M) in Kerala, MV Govindan.

Kannur University Vice Chancellor and prominent historian Gopinath Ravindran has said that he will not submit his resignation.

“I got the letter in the evening. He has been told to resign on Monday by 11.30 a.m. But now I am not resigning. If the decision is to remove me, then fire me, I will not resign,” Dr. Ravindran told media.

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