Left Senate members charge at Calicut University V-C over attempt to save 'corrupt official'

Kozhikode: The University of Calicut's interim Vice-Chancellor Prof. P Raveendran called off the General Senate meeting on Wednesday, December 18, after Left members aggressively charged at him demanding a discussion on the transfer of two key section officers, a topic that was not on the agenda.
UDF senate members quickly formed a protective ring around Prof Raveendran and pushed back the Left senators.

The Left members began sloganeering with chants of "Inquilab Zindabad! Uphold justice, Vice-Chancellor! End authoritarianism!" In response, the pro-UDF senate members countered with shouts of "Discuss the agenda!"

Prof. Raveendran, a faculty member in the university's Department of Chemistry, has repeatedly faced resistance from the Left on campus since Governor Arif Mohammed Khan appointed him as interim vice-chancellor in July 2024, disregarding the LDF government's panel of three names.

After the ruckus on Wednesday, the UDF senate members released a statement condemning the "attempted assault on the Vice-Chancellor" at the senate meeting. "The unruly behaviour of the pro-government senate members was a deliberate ploy to disrupt the meeting that was scheduled to discuss the annual audit report of 2021-2022, the implementation of the four-year undergraduate programme, problems related to conducting examination, issues at the evaluation camp, implementation of the K-REAP and research regulations," said the statement. These issues would have put the LDF government in the dock and they would not allow that, said a pro-UDF senate member.

As soon as the interim Vice-Chancellor concluded the customary condolence message for those who had passed away since the last Senate meeting, Left members demanded an immediate discussion on the transfer of two section officers. They accused Prof. Raveendran of overstepping the Registrar's prerogative and reshuffled the staff to shield a pro-UDF employee under disciplinary investigation.

The interim Vice-Chancellor refused to entertain their demand, saying it was not on the agenda. That's when the Left Senate members, led by Shiyolal N, the Kunnamangalam Block Panchayat member, tried to charge at the Vice-Chancellor. Shiyolal, the chairman of the Health and Education Standing Committee of the Block Panchayat, even managed to reach the Vice-Chancellor's chair on the dais. The security staff then pulled him away from Prof Raveendran.

Why the transfers are being challenged
According to Left senate member Nikhil V S, who represents the non-teaching staff in the apex governing body, said the university under the previous Vice-Chancellor Prof M K Jayaraj had demoted Instrumentation Engineer Mohamed Sajid to the post of a junior engineer after the government's Finance Inspection Wing found financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 28 lakh.

Sajid, the president of the IUML-affiliated employees' union, appealed against the disciplinary action with Khan. As chancellor, Khan exonerated the official on June 27, 2024. He also ordered Sajid to be reinstated to his post of Instrumentation Engineer with all the service benefits due to him.

Fifteen days later, Khan appointed Prof. Raveendran as the interim Vice Chancellor of the university.

But before that, the university syndicate decided to approach the High Court against the Governor's decision but after Raveendran took charge, he froze all action on Sajid's file and initiated steps to implement the Chancellor's order, said Nikhil. When the V-C stalled the Syndicate's decision, M B Faisal, a Syndicate member in his personal capacity, approached the high court seeking a stay on the government's decision.

On September 13, the High Court stayed Khan's decision. On December 13, the High Court extended the stay and scheduled the next hearing on January 15, 2025.

But in October, Prof Raveendran transferred section officer M P Vinod from the Legal Cell to the District Education Cell, and brought in K Adam Malik Saleem Mohammed to the post for "administrative convenience".

Nikhil said Sajid is the president of Solidarity of University Employees, a pro-IUML organisation and Saleem Mohammed is the vice-president of the same organisation. "When Saleem Mohammed is in the legal cell, how will the university be truthful in court in Sajid's case?" he said.

On October 18, the Calicut University Employees’ Union (CUEU), a pro-Left union of the university's non-teaching staff, picketed Prof Raveendran for around three hours and a half over the transfer. He was rescued by the police around 7 pm that day. That was the first public protest by the Left union against the interim Vice-Chancellor.

Nikhil said Sajid had moved the High Court against the disciplinary action against him but did not get a favourable order yet. "But the V-C was trying to extricate him from the case," he said.