Tense scenes as SFI marches to Kerala Secretariat

Police used water cannons during SFÚ’s protest march to the secretariat on Wednesday to protest against the police charging of its activists on Tuesday for opposing the alleged saffron of the universities. | Photo credit: Jayamohan A.

Tense scenes witnessed the Students Federation of India (SFI) Secretariat march on Wednesday to protest against the police prosecution of its activists who opposed the alleged encryption of universities.

The activists, led by SFI state president PS Sanjeev, carrying placards, reached the secretariat around 1 pm but were blocked by the police using barricades. Activists shouted slogans and tried to climb over the barricades. They also clashed with the police, leading to the use of water cannons in an attempt to disperse them, but to no avail.

The police resorted to lathicharge when the situation seemed to be going out of control. Some activists suffered minor injuries.

CPI(M) leaders arrived at the venue to pacify activists who protested police action on Tuesday during the SFI march to the Kerala University headquarters on Tuesday to protest the release of the full version of Vande Mataram during the National Sports Day celebrations organized by the university.

In a post on social media, Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that the UDF government was suppressing democratic protests. The police lathi charged the students for the second day in a row. The lathi hit Mr. Sanjeev in the chest and he had to be hospitalized. He continued to have trouble breathing. This was a deliberate attack on Mr. Sanjeev, he said.

The defense of the police action by the Chief Minister and the Home Minister indicated the government’s intention to suppress the protests instead of responding democratically to the students’ demands, Mr. Vijayan said.

Published – 02 Sep 2026 22:26 IST