Kerala Governor Arif Mohamed Khan charged on Tuesday that the Chief Minister hatched the conspiracy to attack him and police have been prevented from acting against protesters of the Students’ Federation of India.
Governor Khan told presspersons in Delhi, “Protests were held at three places on Monday. The protesters hit the car with rods used for the flags. If it wasn’t a good quality car, the window glasses would have been broken. There are so many scratches.” Governor added police have been prevented from acting against the protesters, whom he referred as “rowdies” and “criminals”. Governor charged that the protesters were transported in police jeeps to the protest sites.
The tussle between the Kerala Governor and the Kerala government hit a new low on Monday, when Khan got out of his vehicle and decided to confront SFI protesters, while he was en route to Thiruvananthapuram International Airport to travel to Delhi. The students' organisation affiliated with CPI(M) have been protesting against the Governor alleging saffronisation of higher education institutions in Kerala. The governor recently recommended members from Sangh Parivar-related organisations to the Senate of a few universities in Kerala.
Khan charged chief minister is responsible for the attacks. “Chief Minister has hatched this conspiracy; it is under his instruction these people are working,” Khan charged. Khan added he is a student of scriptures and quoting a Bhagavad Gita verse, Khan said he is not scared of anybody.
Meanwhile, OnManorama reported that according to State Intelligence, the governor’s route map was leaked to SFI. According to police, 19 SFI members were taken into custody on Monday.
BJP leader and Minister of State V. Muraleedharan said, “The Kerala CM and the Communist Party Secretary have been issuing threats to the Kerala Governor during the last few weeks as the Governor is taking a firm stand against the corruption and nepotism of the state government. Yesterday's incident in Thiruvananthapuram where Kerala Governor was attacked depicts the level of law and order situation in the state. The fact that he was attacked thrice during his travel from Raj Bhavan to the airport, a distance of around 5km and these people were let loose by the ruling front and police were made ineffective to suit the interests of the people who were there to attack the Governor."
