The Students Federation of India (SFI) has again come under scathing Opposition attack for questionable academic conduct, seemingly putting the government and Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] on the defensive.
The latest row related to the Opposition accusation that an SFI leader, Nikhil Thomas, had furnished a fake degree certificate to gain admission to the MCom course at Milad E-Sherif Memorial (MSM) College, Kayamkulam.
College Principal A. Muhammad Taha has constituted a six-member committee to probe the charge. He said the college would seek a police investigation into the suspected academic fraud. He suspended Mr. Thomas pending inquiry.
The college has come under flak from Opposition students’ unions for the management’s alleged laxity in scrutinising certificates. The Kerala Students Union (KSU), the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Muslim Students Federation (MSF) have called for a Statewide boycott of classes on Tuesday. They took out protest marches on the campus on Monday.
It did not help the government or the SFI that Kalinga University denied issuing the BCom degree certificate submitted by Mr. Thomas for admission to MCom course offered by MSM College.
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kerala Mohanan Kunnummal seemed to add to the SFI’s woes by seeking an explanation from MSM College. He also ordered the university Registrar to probe the authenticity of the degree certificate submitted by Mr. Thomas.
Higher Education Minister R. Bindu has sought reports from the University of Kerala and MSM College. Ms. Bindu stressed the need for tamper-proof university certificates with holograms and hidden security markings, as in currency notes.
Hits SFI hard
The flurry of developments hit the SFI hard. Its State secretary P.M. Arsho appeared hard-pressed to explain why he had defended the authenticity of Mr. Thomas’s certificate, which has now acquired the legal status of a questionable document. Mr. Arsho denied that the SFI had given a clean chit to Mr. Thomas. He sought a police inquiry into the matter and trained his guns on Mr. Kunnummal by casting doubts on his academic credentials and accusing him of having political bias.
The Opposition went hammer and tongs against the SFI. Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said the MSM College “fiasco” was emblematic of the rot that had set into the higher education sector under the Left Democratic Front government.
Opposition students’ unions marched to MSM College. They reeled off a wide range of allegations against SFI leaders, accusing them of “examination and college election fraud, cheating in PSC tests, stealing university examination answer papers, making startling blunders in doctoral theses and campus violence”. They slammed the CPI(M) for allegedly giving political cover to the “felonious conduct” of SFI leaders.
