Attempts to politicise youth festival; College management’s NO to SFI
Kottayam, Kerala.
The authorities of St. Thomas College, Pala, Kottayam district, nipped in the bud the SFI efforts to politicise the college youth festival. Despite assignment of names, by the authorities, for various venues, SFI tried to go their own way by naming them. They renamed the venues after Babri, Palestine, Manipur, etc. The idea was to malign Hindutva organisations. But college authorities’ swift action foiled their sinister moves. Principal Prof. James John condemned the SFI men’s attempt to politicise the youth festival venues and asserted that such actions will not be tolerated at all in college campus.
SFI went for renaming exercise despite having no mandate to do so. As soon as it came to the management’s notice, they took quick action and removed them. Principal told unequivocally that the attempt was to inject party politics, into an arts festival, indirectly; it would not be tolerated. He made it clear that no protests, in this connection, would be permitted in the campus.
St. Thomas College, Pala, is a government-aided private college of higher education located in Pala town, Kerala. It was founded in 1950 by the Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Pala. The college is affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, and was re-accredited with A++ grade by NAAC in February 2021.
The episode is a rude blow to the high-handedness SFI has been practising in Kerala campuses, especially when CPM is in power. Their anarchical behaviour was at the peak recently when they protested against the Governor of the State. In March, 2016, SFI men made a symbolic grave for Prof. N. Sarasu, the lady principal of the historic Victoria College, Palakkad, on the day of her retirement. A wreath was placed in the grave. In legendary Maharaja’s College, Kochi, SFI men took the official chair of the lady principal to the road and set fire to it.
In the campuses where SFI is powerful, they would not tolerate other student organisations there. In some SFI-dominated colleges, other student organizations cannot even file the nomination papers for college union elections.
