"I am not responding to criminals": Kerala Governor attacks Kerala Education Minister

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Sunday slammed Kerala higher education minister R Bindu accusing her of being "totally ignorant" and showing a lack of respect towards the court and the law of the land. "I am not going to respond to criminals. Illegality has happened, and the law will certainly take its course.

She (R Bindu) might have said anything. I don't consider her important enough to respond to her remarks," he said. When asked about the incidents at a senate meeting held at the Kerala University, which is presided over by Higher Education Minister R Bindhu as Pro-chancellor, Khan responded by saying she had no authority to do so without his permission.

"Whatever she may say, the only thing I am aware of is that somebody claiming to be the education minister tried to intrude into the meeting of the senate illegally. This is a violation of the law. Senate meetings can be chaired either by the chancellor or by somebody authorized by the chancellor. No other person has the right to preside over it. I promise you that the violation of the law will be taken cognizance of," Arif Mohammed Khan said.

The higher education minister R Bindu, however, said that she did not violate the university rules and as pro-chancellor, she holds the authority to chair the senate meeting, which contradicts Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan's statement.

The Education Minister of Kerala R Bindu is the Pro-Chancellor of the Kerala University, while the Governor of Kerala, Arif Mohammed Khan is the Chancellor. Earlier, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan claimed on Saturday that all the protests that were organised by the student wing of the ruling CPI (M) against him were joint ventures of the Students Federation of India (SFI) and the Popular Front of India (PFI), a banned organisation by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

"All these protests that are being organised against me are not by SFI alone. That is a joint venture of SFI and PFI. I have gotten the report that twelve people have been arrested. Twelve people were arrested and five were. They said there were another five, although there were many more. Out of these twelve people who have been arrested, seven are known PFI volunteers. So this is not just SFI what the government is doing. They are telling the members of a banned organisation that if you join these protests, you do something nasty and then we will protect you. This is an SFI and PFI joint venture. Seven of them belong to the PFI." said Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan.

"This government is not only sheltering the PFI members of a banned organisation to create a law-and-order problem in Kerala. And I have already said that they are doing these things to provoke me to take some abstract action. But I am not going to oblige them," Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan alleged.

The Students Federation of India (SFI) staged a black flag protest against Kerala Governor Khan on Thursday. SFI, a student wing of the ruling CPI (M) has claimed that the governor pushed "BJP-RSS nominees" into various universities in Kerala, using his authority as the chancellor of universities in the state.