Dheeraj, a computer science student and SFI leader in Government Engineering College, Idukki, was stabbed to death on Monday by a gang belonging to the rival KSU.
The murder occurred amidst college union election in which the CPI(M) controlled SFI and the rival KSU, the students wing of the Indian National Congress were engaged in tough fight. Though campus politics has been banned by the Kerala High Court, the government or the political parties have not taken any action to implement the verdict.
Nikhil Pylee, a Congress leader has been arrested by the Idukki Police in connection with the murder. SFI have declared a statewide agitation on Tuesday including boycotting of classes.
College Principals and political observers are unanimous in their view that elections in campuses should not be held based on political leaning. “One has to doubt the intention of the Kerala Government not to shut down schools and colleges despite the upsurge in Covid-19 cases. On Monday , the State diagnosed 5,797 new cases and the Test Positivity Rate stood 12.6 per cent. The CPI(M) -led Kerala Government wants to establish its total control over educational institutions and universities. There is no justification for the government’s decision to keep the colleges and universities opened despite the hike in Covid-19 cases,” said Hari Kartha, former chief editor, Janmabhumi.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condemned the murder of Dheeraj. “The murder of Dheeraj is reprehensible. The government has asked the police to put their foot firmly and suppress all kinds of violence. We will not allow the campuses to become killing fields,” said Vijayan in his social media posti.Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, CPI(M) secretary, blamed KPCC president K Sudhakaran for the murder. “It is after he was appointed as the KPCC chief that political murders shot up in the State,” Balakrishnan told reporters at the State capital.
Meanwhile, activists of the DYFI (youth wing of the CPI-M) have waylaid Sudhakaran at Malappuram where he had gone to address a camp of party workers. A KSU leader pointed out that the SFI activists themselves complained that the police refused to shift Dheeraj to the hospital despite their pleas. "There were internal issues in the SFI itself and last Friday saw they clashing among themselves," said a KSU functionary.