In Kerala, Sangh Parivar nominees are entering varsity senates with Governor’s help

The Calicut University in Kerala is readying for syndicate election as directed by the Kerala High Court. The Sangh Parivar, for the first time in history, is expected to have at least one member who is affiliated to their ideology when elections are over. A similar scenario is awaiting the Kerala University syndicate too, where the Sangh might see two members entering the syndicate, all because Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, who is the Chancellor of universities in the state reconstituted the senates with members he nominated from his own list. We take a look at the members nominated by the Governor..The Students Federation of India (SFI), the students wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), for the past few days has been staging massive protests against the Governor alleging that he pushed BJP-RSS nominees to university senates. Successive Kerala governments have tried to keep people with open BJP-RSS affiliations from powerful bodies like university syndicates. Historically, governors have chosen to approve lists made by ruling fronts to avoid confrontation though statutes provide them the power to nominate members to the senate, which elects syndicate members. The governments in power, both the UDF and the LDF, have tried to keep these bodies under their political control and the BJP, which doesn’t have an elected representative in the Legislative Assembly, hitherto couldn’t enter them..Who are Governor’s nomineesIn the senates of Kerala and Calicut universities, Governor Arif Mohamed Khan has nominated several individuals associated with the Sangh Parivar organisations. On November 30, the Governor nominated 17 members under Section 17 – Other Members (1), (2) & (3) of the Kerala University Act, 1974.Among the notable nominations are Shyam Lal and Kavitha OB, both serving as school headmasters, and PS Gopakumar and S Mini Venugopal, who are school teachers. Gopakumar and Syam Lal hold key positions as president and vice president, respectively, in the Kerala state unit of the National Teachers Union (NTU) also known as Deseeya Adhyapaka Parishath, an association under the Akhil Bharatiya Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh (ABRSM), affiliated to the Sangh Parivar. Kavitha OB and Mini Venugopal are district-level representatives of the NTU.R Paulraj, a representative from Idukki and affiliated with Amritha Bharathi Vidya Peedam, an informal education centre linked to Sangh Parivar, has also secured a nomination. P Sreekumar, the news editor at Janmabhumi daily, the BJP mouthpiece, received nomination under the journalist category while Sree Prasad R, a faculty with NSS College Pandalam, who received nomination as author is the state secretary of Unnatha Vidyabyasa, Adhyapaka Sangam (UVAS), affiliated with ABRSM, an organisation which aims to propagate the idea of cultural nationalism in the field of education and society..Students nominated by the Governor – Malavika Udayan (Fine Arts), Sudhi Sadan (Sports), Dhruvin SL Science), and Abhishek D Nair (Humanities – are all members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). While the SFI has alleged that these students did not merit nominations, ABVP said Sudhi Sadan is a body builder who won Mr Alappuzha title and a silver medalist in inter-collegiate competitions. The Kerala High Court has stayed nominations of two student members based on a petition,On November 20, the Governor nominated 18 members to the Calicut University senate under Section 17 (1, 2, 3 and 4) related to 'Other Members’ of the Calicut University Act, 1975, but among them only two were from the list provided by the Vice Chancellor. Nine of these members have BJP-RSS connections according to reports.The SFI has alleged that two out of the four student nominees - PM Aswin Raj (Guruvayoorappan College) and Sneha C Nair (SNGS College, Pattambi) - are office bearers of ABVP. But two other students - Anusha KK and Siyana MM were from the SFI, which shows the Governor did not strike out all Left nominees. While political affiliations of most others could not be independently ascertained, a nominee in the author category is Balan Pootheri, a Padmasri-winning author, who has links to BJP and has written several books on Hindu religion and RSS icons like Veer Savarkar. Anuraj AK, director, Mahatma College of Mass Communication, who received nomination in journalist category is also considered friendly to the Sangh Parivar as the institution operates from Kesari Bhavan from where Kesari Weekly, an RSS mouthpiece is published.The Calicut University published the draft voters list comprising 108 Senate members as part of the process of electing syndicate members after a single bench of the Kerala High Court on December 6 directed it to hold the polls within one month. But the election to Kerala University syndicate is likely to be delayed as the Kerala High Court has stayed nomination of student members by the Governor.T Anoop Kumar, state general secretary of NTU, alleged that the CPI(M) and SFI are trying to intimidate the Governor as he tries to clean up the higher education sector in the state. “Gone are the days of getting things done with thuggery and threats. Everyone knows why Marxists and SFI activists insist on being appointed to the Senate and the Syndicate,” he said.Anoop alleged that CPI(M) appoints party workers and their family members to different posts in universities. “It is the fear of getting caught which is prompting the Marxist party to turn SFI activists against the governor. The credibility of the higher education sector in Kerala has been damaged because of malpractices,” he alleged.