Governor protest: SFI activists get kid-glove treatment from police at Calicut University

Malappuram: "Come with me, Arsho. Listen to me. Come with me, Arsho," pleaded a police officer in riot gear, his arms around the SFI leader like a mother hen's wings around her chicks.

But SFI State Secretary P M Arsho was livid over an officer allegedly trying to pull off his dhoti in the melee.

He refused to leave the protest site and planted himself on the road. But four police officers, one of them in combat fatigues, picked him up like a fragile ceramic and carried him to a police bus. The soft approach lulled the fiery protester for a few moments. But when the officers placed him on the footboard of the police bus, Arsho sprung back, shouting at the police: "So you will shove me, will you shove me?"

The officers could not be provoked. They only slid the bus door shut to silence the student leader. But the protesting SFI activists, who were allowed to protest against Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on the campus of Calicut University kept the chorus on: 'Poda pulle, Arif Khane. Poda pulle, Arif Khane' (Get Lost, Arif Khan).

This was just a slice of how Kerala Police treated the protest of the SFI which announced that it would not allow Governor Khan to step onto campuses because he was allegedly saffronising the universities in Kerala. The Governor is the ex-officio Chancellor of the state universities.

Governor Khan took up the SFI's challenge and announced a three-day stay on the campus of the University of Calicut from Saturday evening to Monday evening. "I was planning to stay at the Government Guest House. Then I was told that they (SFI activists) had vowed not to allow me to enter the university. Then I changed the programme. I will stay on the university campus itself,” Khan had told reporters in New Delhi.

He also said he would get out of his car if the protesters reached his car. "If someone comes near my car, I will immediately stop it and get down. Why should they hit my car? They should hit me. If they have guts, they should hit me. They want to frighten me. I am not the one who can be frightened. They are bullying," Khan said.

The SFI put up black banners at the entrance of the Calicut University campus that read: "Mister Chancellor. You are not welcome here" and "Sanghi Chancellor, Wapas Jao".

Malappuram District Police Chief Sasidharan S had deployed a 300-member police contingent to protect the Chancellor. But they did not remove the banners that would greet Khan on his arrival.

After hours of protest, the police, however, removed scores of SFI activists from the campus before Khan arrived. But around 50 SFI activists returned to the campus to shout 'Go Back' at the Governor as his motorcade arrived around 7.15 pm.

'Why the double standard, police'

The Opposition Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), who were at the receiving end of police brutality and CPM's 'life-saving acts' when they protested against the Chief Minister during the Nava Kerala Sadas, pointed out the double standard of the Kerala Police in dealing with protests.

"It is the same police that passively looked on as a protester with physical disability was beaten up by DYFI criminals," said Riyas Mukkoli, secretary of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and Vice-President of Youth Congress in Kerala. Police often go soft on the ruling parties during protests but they do not declare their love in public, he said. "But in the second term of the Pinarayi Vijayan government, the police are openly acting as government goons," said Mukkoli. The police pressed non-bailable charges against opposition protesters even when the protests were peaceful, he said. "But members of Left organisations are let off with petty charges at the police station," he said.

On December 11, Monday, SFI activists waved black flags at the Governor. Police charged them with lesser crimes. They invoked Section 124 of the IPC against the seven SFI activists only after the Governor wrote to the State Police Chief. The section deals with assaulting the President of India or the Governor to restrain them from exercising their powers, and attracts a maximum punishment of seven years in prison.

State general secretary of Youth League P K Firoz said Youth League and Youth Congress activists were attacked with helmets and flowerpots, and pressed with serious charges when they took part in peaceful protests. "But the government-sponsored protest is getting all protection from the police, and protesters are given special privilege," he said.

Both the leaders pointed out how police treated Arsho with respect during SFI's protest against the Governor on Saturday. Lady officers also tried to console a female student who cried while being dragged away, they alleged.

In January, Firoz said, he and 27 Youth League activists were arrested and remanded in judicial custody for two weeks when they took out a protest march to the Secretariat.