A violent clash between the activists of the Student Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and Kerala Students Union (KSU), the student wing of Congress in Kerala, erupted during the D-Zone cultural festival of Calicut University on January 27. The incident which took place at Holy Grace College, Mala in Thrissur district, resulted in multiple injuries with one SFI leader being admitted in the Intensive Care unit (ICU).
At least 20 students were injured in the incident, according to reports. A video footage circulated on social media, shows the KSU members attacking the SFI students. Aashish Krishna, the SFI secretary of Kerala Varma college, suffered injuries to his head in the attack. He was taken to Thrissur Medical College Hospital. He is presently admitted in the ICU. According to the SFI, some students who were not affiliated with SFI were also injured in the clash.
The clash reportedly took place around 11.30 pm on the concluding day of the festival. The conflict over the delay in programmes and result announcements led to a verbal conflict between the members of SFI and KSU, reports suggest. And soon it escalated into a physical fight.
After the clash, the injured were taken to different hospitals in the city. Meanwhile, the ambulance that the KSU workers took to the hospital was allegedly attacked by SFI. The SFI denied this allegation and later they published a group selfie of KSU students inside the ambulance claiming that the KSU members were using the ambulance to flee from the spot.