Sanskrit University suspension row: Govindan lashes out, says it should continue till suspended students write exams

MV Govindan. File | Photo credit: RK Nithin

CPI(M) State Secretary MV Govindan on Sunday (November 8, 2026) expressed solidarity with the ongoing agitation by students of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit in Kalady near Kochi and said the protest should continue until all suspended students are allowed to appear for exams.

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Sixteen students were suspended following a protest led by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) during a union meeting on August 13 over the lack of adequate campus facilities.

They were accused of staging a “fake cremation” of Vice-Chancellor Ciza Thomas, tampering with her and attempting to damage university property.

A single bench of the Kerala High Court ordered the university to allow the students to appear for the exams, but later the divisional order remained. The students then approached the Supreme Court, which ordered a single bench to decide the matter.

The university said the suspension of 10 of the 16 students would be lifted if they apologized, but they refused.

In a Facebook post after visiting the protest tent and interacting with students, Mr. Govindan said that the agitation would not be called off with just an apology.

“Everyone knows who has apologized in the past. The student agitation will end only after all the expelled students write the exams,” he said.

He alleged that the functioning of the university was disrupted because the vice-chancellor rarely visited the institution. Thomas, he said, did not file any complaint when the students protested but later filed a police case in which the students secured bail.

Mr. Govindan alleged that the governor’s subsequent intervention worsened the situation and alleged that the development was part of the RSS’s planned agenda.

He accused the BJP and Chief Minister VD Satheesan of working to saffron Kerala and claimed that both supported each other even during the assembly elections.

He described the student agitations as engines of social transformation and said society would stand in solidarity with the students’ protest.

Published – 8 Nov 2026 14:05 IST