Nirmala College at Muvattupuzha (established in 1953) in Kerala finds itself in the middle of a new controversy as hundreds of Muslim students in the institution are on a warpath with the college management.
On Friday, students under the leadership of SFI (the students’ wing of the CPI-M) and Muslim League gheraoed the college principal Father Jestin K Kuriakose, for almost two hours demanding special classrooms/auditoriums for offering namaz.
This is a new development in the history of the 71-year-old college, which was established by the Catholic Church to make higher education accessible to students belonging to the State’s high ranges.
“We were taken aback by the action of the students picketing the principal or gheraoing the teachers or management. Till now the Muslim students were making use of the mosques in the neighbourhood for offering Friday prayers. What made them demand for special classrooms or auditoriums remains a mystery,” Kuriakose told The Pioneer on Sunday.
The demand made by the students has been put up before the college management. “To set apart exclusive prayer auditoriums for students believing in different sects is not an easy task. Though ours is a Christian minority institution, we follow the directives issued by the university and Government,” said a senior official of the management.
Though the church is keen on resolving the issue amicably, the recent developments in the State have to be seen as factors that made the students resorting to extreme measures.
The CPI (M)-led Kerala Government has recently appointed a senior IAS officer as the de facto foreign secretary of the State to communicate and coordinate with Governments in Europe, USA, Australia and Africa. Sources in Government Secretariat said the move has turned out to be a “treatment worse than the disease” as the External Affairs is an area that comes under the exclusive domain of the Centre.
Another demand that has been overlooked by the media in the State is the creation of separate district of Muvattupuzha and the bifurcation of the State itself as Kerala and Malabar. The change in Kerala’s religious demography and the emergence of Muvattupuzha as a hotbed of religious extremism are seen as the factors contributing to the change in the attitude of the people. Christian Association and Alliance for Social action (CASA) has condemned the students picketing the principal of the college over an issue which has nothing to do with academics.
“We have heard about people who disrupt normal life and traffic by forcibly occupying public places under the pretext of religious congregation and namaz.
Colleges and schools should not be made part of their plans to carve out separate country,” said Kevin Peter, founder, CASA in a statement released on Sunday. He pointed out that there are three big mosques in the vicinity of the college and the students are advised to make use of the facility. “College and school timings in the State are so planned that the Islamic students could offer prayers every day without causing any inconvenience to others,” said Kevin.
Big time political parties like the CPI (M) and the Congress are yet to react to the unrest among the student community. What is at stake is principal Fr Kuriakose’s unique selling proposition to the students: “Welcome to Nirmala for an inspiring journey to the future”.