On July 23rd 2018, Governor of Kerala P Sathasivam addressed a brief interaction with the media after a meeting with the P. K Radhakrishnan, Vice-chancellor at Cochin University of Science and Technology. He said, “It is not permissible to have any organization inside the campus and the students have to understand that politics is not advisable in the campus.” Governor made this statement in a response to a specific query asked on whether some organizations were trying to experiment with the politics of terror in the campus through the brutal killing of a student at Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam.
Campus politics in Kerala has been a controversial topic since the killing of a second year BSc (Chemistry) student, Abhimanyu M’s murder at Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam. Students leaning towards politics have created a history of “troubled youth” which indeed leads to the behavioural problem at an early age. This in return diverts their mind from the academics and more attention given to political activities or political parties. This diversion affects the students’ performances in class and exams which gives rise to poor results. Parents and guardians who invest time and money during the time of admission of the child hopes for a better future for his/her kids and would rather not want the child to fall under any category of political mishap. “I am not saying that they need not lean towards a political party. (There’s) nothing wrong. First, they have to finish the studies. Let students get employment. They have to keep out of any politics if they want to come out successful,” he said.
Earlier, in the month of October, a bench, headed by Chief Justice Navaniti Prasad Singh, issued an order on a contempt of court petition filed by the MES college, Ponnani, observed that politics or political activities should not be permitted in academic institutions. The court said that political activities such as dharna, hunger strike and practices such as satyagraha has no place in a constitutional democracy, much less in academic institutions. Educational institutions are meant for imparting education and not politics. Political parties could not hold ransom educational institutions or the right of civilized students to receive the education.
Governor of Kerala P Sathasivam had to accept the Kerala High Court’s decision on Campus politics, the Governor, who is the Chancellor of the state, addressed the students to join any profession, including politics, after passing out of the campus. He said, “I am not saying that they need not lean towards a political party. (There’s) nothing wrong. First, they have to finish the studies. Let students get employment. They have to keep out of any politics if they want to come out successful,”