Several political leaders in Kerala, including former Defence minister and veteran Congress leader AK Antony and leaders of Left parties like VS Achuthanandan, have urged the state government to enact a new law to restore student politics in educational institutions in Kerala.
This after the Kerala HC recently ordered that all political activities and strikes must be barred in educational institutions.
Flaying the Kerala High Court order, Antony urged the government to call an all-party meeting to discuss the issue. He also expressed the fear that banning politics in campuses will give way for communal forces to come to fore. "The High Court's decision will result in the reign of communal forces in campuses," Antony said, reports Mathrubhumi online.
Many other leaders in the state have also spoken out against the court's order.
Senior CPI (M) leader and former Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan termed the court verdict unfortunate. Achuthanandan, the chairman of Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission, also urged for action to bypass the verdict.
CPI (M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan also said that the government should enact a law to allow students to conduct political activity in colleges. Former president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee VM Sudheeran said that the ban on student politics in campuses in not realistic.
The High Court had said that it is within the rights of college authorities to rusticate students who resort to dharnas, strikes or any other means of disrupting the academic atmosphere of the college. The court order was in response to a petition filed by the MES college in Malappuram. The college moved the court against a hunger strike staged by SFI students and sought its intervention to end protest.