The standoff between Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the Kerala Government reached a flash point on Sunday as the former unleashed an unprecedented attack against Gopinath Raveendran, Vice Chancellor of the Kannur University.
Speaking to reporters at New Delhi, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan described Gopinath Raveendran as a criminal and worse than a CPI(M) cadre.
“This man hatched a criminal conspiracy to hurt me physically during the 2019 Indian History Congress held at Kannur. Gopinath Raveendran was the main conspirator behind the move. My Aid-De-Camp was assaulted and attacked by the henchmen of the vice chancellor. He has crossed all limits of political decency and academic discipline,” said the Governor.
On Saturday, the Kerala University Senate had nullified the decision of the Governor (as Chancellor) to constitute a search committee to form a panel of names to be considered for the post of the vice chancellor, which has fallen vacant.
The Governor, is contemplating to order a thorough probe into all appointments made in the universities in the State during the last three years, according to sources close to him. Sources close to the Governor told The Pioneer that the latter wanted to go by consensus on all issues despite the political chasm between the State administration and him.
Arif Mohammed Khan has been pursuing a tightrope walk in the political landscape laden with “booby traps”. Gopinathan Raveendran’s decision to ignore the Chancellor’s diktat cancelling the appointment of Priya Varghese, the wife of K K Ragesh, political secretary to the chief minister, as associate professor in the department of Malayalam too has shocked the academic fraternity in the State.
Professor Joseph Skariah, head of the department of Malayalam, St Berchmans College, Changanassery (established in 1922) who had scored 651 points in the selection process was overlooked and Priya Varghese with mere 156 points was appointed as associate professor.