Communist Party of India (CPI(M)) State secretary M.V. Govindan has accused Governor Arif Mohammed Khan of attacking the government at the behest of the "Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Congress and right-wing media triad."
Mr. Govindan on Saturday signalled a change in approach to the controversial appointment of Priya Varghese, wife of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's private secretary K.K. Rakesh, as associate professor, Malayalam, at Kannur University. Mr. Khan, as Chancellor of universities, had stayed the appointment on nepotism grounds.
Mr. Govindan echoed Mr. Vijayan's declaration that the authorities concerned would examine whether university appointments were in order.
Ms. Varghese's questionable appointment was a major area of contention between the government, Kannur University Vice Chancellor Gopinath Ravindran and Mr. Khan. It had arguably paved the way for the protracted and bitter public dispute between the government and Raj Bhavan.
Mr. Govindan accused Mr. Khan of "falsely claiming" that 90-year-old internationally renowned historian Irfan Habib and Mr. Ravindran had plotted to harm him at the venue of the Indian History Congress in Kannur in 2019. History students had staged a spontaneous protest against Mr. Khan for backing the patently anti-minority Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The CPI(M) threw its weight behind Mr. Ravindran, who Mr. Khan often singled out for criticism. "Mr. Khan is aware of Mr. Ravindran's academic stature. He had quit as member secretary of the Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) after the Central government appointed a revisionist RSS leader, Sudarshan Rao, as its head," Mr. Govindan said.
He alleged Mr. Khan's contempt for campus politics reflected his animus towards the CPI(M) and the Students Federation of India (SFI). Since 2016, the Congress-RSS-SDPI combine had killed 23 SFI activists. There was no instance of SFI unleashing similar violence against its political opponents.
Mr. Govindan challenged Mr. Khan's "nationalist" view that Marxism was a western ideology. He said Marxism was a power for the good that emancipated millions. Socialism's relevance was growing.
The CPI(M) had no apprehension about the future of the university, and the Lok Ayutka Acts passed by the Assembly. The government would seek legal and constitutional remedies to surmount any impasse. Mr. Khan had no choice but to go by law and precedence.
Leader of the Opposition V. D. Satheesan, said the Governor and the government were shadowboxing. The public dispute was mere theatrics. The CPI(M) and RSS shared the common aim of ridding India of the Congress. They were inseparable bedfellows. The United Democratic Front (UDF) would not wade into the dispute.
