Kochi | Kerala Higher Education Minister Roji M John and Vice-Chancellors of universities in Kerala on Friday criticised the alleged assault attempt and harassment of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit Vice Chancellor Dr Ciza Thomas by a group claiming to be students of the university.
SFI is staging a protest at Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit in Kallady, Ernakulam district, against the lack of facilities on campus.
On Thursday, protestors and Vice Chancellor Ciza Thomas came face to face during a Syndicate meeting.
Apart from that, some of the students performed a symbolic last rite near the University office.
SFI has denied manhandling the Vice Chancellor and distanced itself from the symbolic last rite.
In a joint statement, the Vice-Chancellors of 10 universities in the state said Thomas was allegedly physically assaulted, verbally abused and mentally harassed by the group on Thursday.
They alleged that Thomas and members of the Syndicate were forcefully prevented from leaving the university office.
"Although the police were present and attempted to save the valuable life of the Vice Chancellor, the Syndicate Members and other academics, it is seen that so far, no criminal case has been registered against the perpetrators of the criminal act," they said.
The Vice-Chancellors said they were anxious and apprehensive over the alleged acts committed by a group claiming to be students affiliated to a political organisation.
They alleged that the majority of those who assembled at the university on Thursday were not students and said they could be identified from video footage.
The Vice-Chancellors also alleged that the group conducted a "cremation ceremony" targeting the incumbent Vice Chancellor and said video footage of the incident was circulating on social media.
"These acts not only caused apprehension and harassment to the academics of the Universities but also send a wrong signal with respect to the cultural reputation of the State of Kerala," they said.
The Vice-Chancellors flayed the alleged acts and urged the government and the Chancellor to ensure strong and stringent action against those responsible.
Kerala Higher Education Minister Roji M John also condemned the incident and said the SFI protest at the university was politically motivated.
John criticised the student organisation for allegedly attempting to manhandle the woman vice chancellor.
"When they said they would come up with a new, trendy protest method, I did not expect them to resort to such an uncivilised form of protest," he said.
The minister said the Left should be ready for self-introspection over the incident.
He said the protest reaching the stage of an alleged attempt to manhandle a woman vice chancellor showed how the organisation viewed its activities.
John alleged that the ongoing protest at the university was politically motivated and said the SFI was protesting over issues that could not be resolved even during the 10 years of Left rule.
