An Instagram post with an image of a postcard bearing a British era postage stamp and a one liner was the only response the agitating students of KR Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts (KRNNIVSA) in Kottayam had for Shankar Mohan and Adoor Gopalakrishnan, who received flak for making allegedly disparaging remarks against women employees of the institute in a recent interview.
“Give more interviews, talk openly,” said the post. While Shankar Mohan is the director of the institute, which has been witnessing agitation by students over issues including caste discrimination, internationally acclaimed film director Adoor Gopalakrishnan is its chairman. The students were responding to remarks made by Adoor Gopalakrishnan, in a recent interview, that these women come dressed up to protest like the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC). In another post, the Student Council defended the rights of these women to dress as they please. “Njangalude chechimaar uduthorungi thanne varum,” which translates as our sisters would come dressed up.
Adoor in the interview to Media One news channel made several derogatory statements that the workers and students took offense to. Adoor also said that the women staff, who never used to give interviews earlier, are now trained, apparently by someone from outside, for that. About the students' protest he said that those who come to study should only do that.
Adoor keeps saying the same things dismissing our revelations against the director. He has not spoken to us or the cleaning staff but has been reiterating that we are lying. So that there is no point in responding to him anymore,” Sreedev Sreeprakash, chairman of the Students’ Council told TNM. “He has been discriminatory towards us, so is Shankar Mohan. It is like they are repeating a lie to make it sound like a truth. But as they speak more it is becoming clearer who is right,” he added.
The student protest which began on December 5 is still continuing. The female sanitation workers of the institute had spoken out against Shankar Mohan and had alleged that he made them clean toilets at his house with their hands. They also alleged that they were asked about caste before allowing them into the house.
The Institute is named after India’s first Dalit President KR Narayanan. One of the main allegations against the institute is that caste reservation norms are sabotaged in the Institute.
The students had earlier shot off an open letter to Adoor in which they flayed the director for dismissing caste discrimination allegations against Shankar Mohan. This was in response to Adoor's statement in an interview that Shankar Mohan hails from a 'good' family and would not show such discrimination. Adoor and Shankar Mohan belong to the dominant Nair caste in Kerala.
The government has appointed a commission to probe the allegations raised against Shankar Mohan, but is hesitant to suspend the director as requested by the students as the investigation is pending.