"Bullies": Kerala Governor Vs Pinarayi Vijayan As University Protest Row Escalates

Hardening his stance against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the CPI(M)'s student outfit SFI, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Monday called them "bullies" and said he was "not going to be frightened" by them.

The Governor referred to the Chief Minister as "a bully" while responding to a query from reporters regarding Vijayan's statement a day ago that Mr Khan was 'attempting to destroy' the peace in the southern state by making provocative statements.

"You know his (Vijayan's) history? How many murder cases he is involved in? What will a bully say? How am I provoking? If I nominate CPI(M) people to the senate, then it is ok?" Mr Khan asked.

He also referred to the Students' Federation of India (SFI) activists as bullies.

"If they want to hurt me, they are most welcome. I am asking, come here. If you want to hurt me, come here. Why don't you come? "They are only bullies. They are not students. All students belong to SFI? No other student has protested, it is only SFI. Why? Because after the Supreme Court judgement, they realise they cannot control and run the universities," Mr Khan said.

As an example of the alleged "misuse and abuse" of powers by the ruling Left in the state with regard to universities, Mr Khan claimed that in Calicut University, six carpenters were appointed when there was only a vacancy for one.

He also alleged that all six appointees were CPI(M) workers.

"They were misusing and abusing. They cannot anymore now that the SC has made the position absolutely clear that they have no role. That is what has upset them.

"That is why they are unhappy. I am telling through you (media) that the Vice-Chancellors (VCs) have to mend their ways. If I hear that they are succumbing to the pleasure of the politicians...," he said.

Mr Khan said that in the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision, the VCs cannot take instructions from the political executive.

"There is no way," he said.

The Governor also said that the state government's reaction with regard to appointments made by him to the senate of universities shows "that they are still interfering" with the varsities.

The Supreme Court had recently quashed the reappointment of Gopinath Ravindran as VC of Kannur University and berated the Left government for its "unwarranted intervention" in the matter.

While speaking to the media outside the university guest house, Mr Khan also praised the Kerala Police as being the finest and the best in the country and said that the force was not to blamed as it was not being allowed to discharge its duties.

He said he has repeatedly asked whether such black banners would have been permitted had the Chief Minister been staying there.

"If the banners were here, the police were protecting them on the instructions of the Chief Minister. You remove the police from here and I assure you the first person to instruct the SFI not to come near me will be the Chief Minister.

"That is because he knows the consequences if anybody touches me," he said.

At the same time, Mr Khan also said that he feels no threat from the people of Kerala as they love him and he loves them.

Therefore, he will go into the city without the police accompanying him to show he does not feel threatened, the Governor said.

He said that he has written to the State Police Chief saying he does not want any police protection.

"In fact, the Chief Minister can use the police," Khan said.

He said that he was "living on borrowed time" as he was over 70 years old and had already crossed the national average of life expectancy.

"So, if they want to do anything nasty, they are most welcome to...," he said.

He also claimed that his recent statements about Kannur were distorted.

"Kannur district has suffered for decades. Who was the man behind the violence in Kannur? The same man who instigated violence in Kannur, he thought the way he was able to frighten the people there, he will be able to frighten me.

"I am not going to be frightened. My ideal, who inspires me, is Swami Vivekananda. He said face the brute, face the terrible and face it boldly and like monkeys they will fall back if you cease to flee before them. If you do not feel frightened, they will simply disappear into thin air," Mr Khan said.

He further said that what he had said about Kannur was not about the place or the people living there.

"What I said or spoke about a famous novelist of Kerala has written -- that fascism came to Kerala when in Kannur one needed the permission of the CPI(M) to pluck coconuts from his own garden. I am talking about that thing. I am not talking of people of Kannur," he clarified.

The clarification comes in the wake of Mr Vijayan, on Sunday, hitting out at the Governor over his Kannur remarks by saying it was a place that has a prominent space in the history of this country's freedom struggle.

On Saturday, addressing the media at Calicut University, Mr Khan had alleged that the CM was used to scaring people because he comes from Kannur which has a bloody history of killing each other.

When reporters referred to the allegations that the Governor was playing for the RSS, Mr Khan said, "They are entitled to their opinion." In the same breath, he also criticised the state government's outreach programme -- the Nava Kerala Sadas -- alleging that huge money was being spent only to collect applications and provide no solutions.

The Governor and the Chief Minister were at loggerheads after the Supreme Court verdict as Mr Khan accused Mr Vijayan of having exerted pressure on him with regard to reappointment of Ravindran.

Subsequently, his appointments to the senate of some universities invited the ire of the SFI which alleged that he was pushing the BJP-RSS nominees using his authority as the Chancellor of the universities in the state.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)