Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan alleged a conspiracy orchestrated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan following a series of black flag protests against him by the Students Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the Communist Party of India. Addressing the press in New Delhi, the Governor expressed concern over the police’s inability to take action against the protesters who, he claimed, assaulted his car during a black flag demonstration in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday night.
Governor Arif Mohammed Khan highlighted that this was the fifth such incident and accused the Chief Minister of directing the attacks, emphasizing that the protesters were following the CM’s orders. He asserted, “Everything is being done under his direction. It is he who has hatched this conspiracy. These people are working on the instructions of the Chief Minister. I do not try to scare anybody; there is no question. I shall be scared of anything.”
In response, Union Minister V Muraleedharan, representing the BJP, blamed Kerala’s Chief Minister for acting against the Governor, claiming that the attack displayed the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. He alleged that despite the governor being attacked three times during a five-kilometer journey from Raj Bhavan to the airport, the ruling front allowed the assailants to act with impunity, rendering the police ineffective.
Subsequently, police apprehended 17 SFI workers, arresting seven of them in connection with the incident involving the governor’s vehicle. The arrests were made under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Responding to the allegations, the SFI released a statement accusing the governor of appointing senate members in Calicut and Kerala universities from the RSS list, violating university rules. They declared their intent to continue protesting against this action, asserting that their protests would remain democratic without any physical aggression. However, they vowed to prevent the governor from entering campuses in Kerala and continue their protest on the streets.