Is history repeating itself in Kerala?
In the yesteryear if it was the CITU, the trade union of the CPI(M), which turned its nemesis, the student’s wing SFI appears to have assumed the role in the present context by grabbing headlines for all wrong reasons.
A glance into the party’s history would reveal that it has been a trend every time the party comes into power in the state. But this time it’s even more given Pinarayi Vijayan’s extended tem as the chief minister after winning a second term in 2021.
It was in the nineties that the CITU was at its lowest ebb, when the party workers with the support of their top leaders, which included none other than the now legendary CPI(M) veteran V.S.Achuthanandan, reportedly indulged in similar activities.
Now, with Achuthanandan bowing out and both — the party and the government — firmly under the Vijayan’s control, one of the the feeder organisations of the CPI(M) which is making merry is the SFI with its “misdeeds” getting exposed frequently.
Since Vijayan took over, the wrongdoings of the SFI has started to give shockwaves to the party with Leader of Opposition V.D.Satheesan not leaving any opportunity to take on the SFI and its parent party.
“The wrongdoings of the SFI which includes how their cadres manipulate even the Public Service Commission examinations are all out. Then, it was finding answer sheets in the homes of SFI leaders. All were taken aback when SFI went to the extent of replacing a winning College Union Councillor with another SFI leader who did not even contest the election. Then we heard how a former SFI top woman leader worked as a guest lecturer in a government college using forged experience certificates,” said Satheesan.
“If that was not enough, a top SFI leader who did not take an exam got a mark list showing him as ‘passed’. And now how a SFI leader who did not pass B.Com got admission to the very same college for M.Com using a fake degree certificate from a University outside Kerala. All this just cannot happen without the blessings of the CPI(M) leadership, who pass off every such incident as a “one off” episode. It’s indeed shameful,” said Satheesan.
Top Congress legislator Ramesh Chennithala said the time has lapsed for the CPI(M) to see that the SFI is wound up.
Even the chancellor of Universities in Kerala- Governor Arif Mohammed Khan joined the critics who lament the state of affairs in the education sector of the state. He said he feels deeply upset when he thinks about the future of the current generation as the higher education sector has reached such a “deplorable” state.
With so many “unfortunate” incidents surfacing, the party’s top brass has directed its 14 district party secretaries to keep a close tab on the SFI.
Now all eyes are on Vijayan who has gone incommunicado and refuses to entertain the media.
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