The march, inaugurated by CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, was also noted for the discipline and restraint shown by the activists of the CPI(M) and its allies. To the credit of the organizational skill of the CPI(M) and allies, the marchers saw to it that the protest did not degenerate into violence.

It was not a Kerala alone affair. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva’s presence gave it a wider resonance and heft. Speakers, including Yechury stressed the need for a wider mobilisation against the excesses of Governors not only at the state level but also at the national level. In his speech, Siva said it was the manifestation of not only Kerala’s anger against gubernatorial excesses but also that of the whole of South India. Siva hit the nail on the head when he said the Governors of Tamil Nadu and Telangana are also guilty of anti-constitutional conduct.

The protest had been necessitated by the war of words between the Kerala Governor and the LDF Government on the affairs of state universities. Significantly, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his ministerial colleagues stayed away from the protest to deflect opposition criticism of breach of constitutional impropriety. The protest saw the speakers turning a scathing tongue against Arif Mohammed Khan and asking him to mend his ways forthwith. Though other speakers did not seek recall of the Governor, Tiruchi Siva went to the extent of demanding the recall of the ‘guilty’ governors.

In his inaugural speech, Yechury accused Khan of converting the Raj Bhavan into a political office of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He laid accent on the paramount need for joining hands with other non-BJP governments to frustrate what he called the RSS-controlled Union Government’s assault on higher education, diversity, scientific temper and federalism. Khan, Yechury said, was misusing his position to advance the Modi Government’s ‘sinister political aim’ to capture state universities.

He further saw a conspiracy of the Modi Government to ensure that state universities align themselves with the university Grants commission(UGC) norms to centralize the higher education policy. The UGC act passed by Parliament is only a subordinate legislation and could not supersede the university laws passed by a state’s legislature. This being the reality, the Centre has no right to infringe on the rights of state governments to decide on matters relating to state universities. Such moves, Yechury said, amount to a direct assault on the concept of federalism.

CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan saw a central attempt to scuttle the State Government’s efforts to perk up the public education system and create a knowledge economy. Govindan lashed out at the Union Government for trying to saffronise higher education with the help of Governors. Such attempts won’t succeed in Kerala, Govindan averred, in a strong rebuff to Khan’s confrontationist stance. CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran and Kerala Congress (M) chairman Jose K Mani who also spoke identified themselves with the views expressed by Govindan and other CPI(M) leaders.

The State Governor, on his part, has opened a new front against the Pinarayi Government by seeking a list of senior professors of the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS). The Governor has sought the list of professors who have put in at least 10 years of service in the University. It may be mentioned that the Governor had spared the KUFOS earlier while seeking lists from 10 state universities earlier.

The next few days are going to be crucial for both the political contestants. While the Governor has made it abundantly clear that he would not flinch from the path of honesty and political morality come what may, BJP leaders counter this line of argument. The next hearing in the High Court therefore, has become crucial and stormy for both the parties. (IPA Service)