November 15, 2022 08:28 pm | Updated November 16, 2022 04:26 PM IST- Thiruvananthapuram
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan. file. , Photo Credit: PTI
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has said that he is not interested in any conflict with the state governmentBut universities cannot be allowed to be mere departments of the ruling party and that the rule of law must prevail.
He made it clear that everyone has the right to protest, but no pressure tactics can deter him from upholding the rule of law in the country.
Mr Khan was answering media questions in New Delhi on November 15, the day the ruling Left Democratic Front in Kerala Organized a huge protest till Raj Bhavan Against the alleged encroachments of the former on the autonomous jurisdiction of the universities in the State.
Mr Khan said he had no ill-will towards anyone and was not involved in any personal feud. However, as chancellor of universities, for the last three years, he was quite disappointed because intervention from the government on a daily basis in University affairs, despite assurances to the contrary.
The Governor said that he was happy that the judgments of both the Supreme Court and the Kerala High Court have made it clear once and for all that no one can interfere in the functioning of universities. “I am deeply concerned about the future of the bright students of Kerala, most of whom are migrating to other states after Class XII in search of higher education,” he said.
Mr Khan said that during his interaction with the students, he understood that they are leaving the state for higher education as there is no such course in Kerala which can be completed in less than five-and-a-half years. That’s how universities were working.
Universities in the state have become the “fiefdom and property of party cadres and their relatives”, Mr Khan said.
“Kerala has one of the strongest school systems since last few decades. But the condition of universities is pathetic. In the words of the great scientist CNR Rao himself, research in the universities of Kerala had come to a halt because no bright mind wanted to live in the state. This is the level of political and party interference in university affairs,” Mr Khan said.
Referring to the state government’s ordinance seeking to remove the governor as chancellor of universities in the state, Mr. Khan asked a counter-question whether the government seriously expected him to sign something that was apparently recently There was a violation of the order of the Supreme Court.