Arid Mohammed Khan exited his car, grabbed a chair from a business along the bust MC road in Nilamel, and sat there calling for the suppression of SFI demonstrators. Arif Mohammed Khan, the governor of Kerala, staged a demonstration on Saturday at a roadside store, calling for the activist from the Student Federation of India (SFI) to be arrested for their anti-kollam district protest in Nilamel. Arif Mohammed Khan exited his car and sat on a chair on the crowded MC road in Nilamel, and there called for the protesters to be stopped.
The striking sights were seen at Nilamel in Kollam, which is roughly 40 kilometers from Thiruvendran, the state capital. Khan remained there for more than two hours before leaving; this was only after the police produced a copy of FIR that was filed against seventeenth SFI activists under the law’s non-bailable sections. After that, when the governor spoke with reporters, he attacked Vijayan, accusing the veteran Marxist of inciting lawlessness in the state. Khan accused him of ordering the police to protect these criminals, who include the state president of the organization (SFI), against whom numerous criminal cases are still pending in the court.
In dramatic TV channel footage, a visibly enraged Khan was seen arguing toughly with the police officers. Along with police officers, Khan’s representative and locals flocked to the location in large numbers. While traveling to the neighboring town of Kottarakkara for an event, a number of activists from the ruling CPI(M)’s student wing, SFI organized a black flag protest against the governor according to the news agency. The Kerala governor and the Left government have been at odds over a number of issues, chief among them the way the state’s universities are run and his refusal to sign some assembly-passed bills. In the midst of the confrontation, Khan read out just the final paragraph of his customary policy speech to the Kerala assembly on Thursday, finishing it in under two minutes.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, members of his cabinet and LDF MLAs did not attend the ‘at home’ function held at Raj Bhavan on Friday. According to the news agency the CM, Ministers and MLAs were invited to the 6:30-7:30 p.m. event, but none of them showed up. KR Jyothilal, additional chief secretary for the geraniol management department, represented the Keralan government. Despite being seated next to each other, Khan and Vijayan were observed ignoring one another during the Republic Day Celebration at the Central Arena in the state capital.
