Watch | Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan stages sit-in protest against police for 'shielding' protestors

The governor of the southern Indian state of Kerala broke protocols of his office on Saturday (Jan 27) and staged a sit-in protest on the roadside when he was shown black flags by the members of a student wing backed by the ruling party. Governor Arif Mohammad Khan also accused the police personnel of being complicit in a ‘conspiracy’ and of shielding the protestors.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) currently rules the state and its student wing - Student Federation of India (SFI) - was holding a black flag protest against the governor.

Why were SFI members protesting?

The SFI members were protesting against the governor’s alleged move to appoint the national ruling party BJP-backed nominees in the state-funded varsities.

ASFI worker as quoted by India Today said, “Without any qualifications, just because K Surendran recommended these nominees from the BJP office, they were taken to the senate. So, SFI has been staging state-wide protest against the governor for many months now. Today’s protest was part of that.”

K Surendran is the head of the BJP’s state unit.

It must be noted that in the capacity of the governor of the state, Khan also serves as the Chancellor of universities in Kerala.

So, when Khan’s motorcade swept past them at 11 am IST near Nilamel in Kollam district, they started waving black flags at him.

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This prompted the governor to rush out of his vehicle and walk towards the protestors. Police personnel formed a human shield around him as he loudly shouted at the student protestors.

Governor vs police

The governor then directed his ire against the police officials. “Will you allow protestors to muster along the Chief Minister’s route? I hold you accountable for the failure”, Khan told the supervisor officer at the scene.

He then seated himself on a chair on the roadside and rejected officials’ plea to continue his journey.

Khan first demanded a copy of the first information report (FIR) filed against the students and what charges were slapped against them.

He also rejected the police’s statement that they had arrested 12 protestors. “There were more than 50 of them. Where are the rest? Is it a case of conspiracy?” he asked.

(With inputs from agencies)