THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the Kerala Students Union (KSU) tightening its grip on the city campuses after the UDF Government coming to power in the State, the monopoly of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) in most of its strongholds is being questioned. This has even led to several violent disputes, with members of both sides suffering injuries. The untoward incidents have also destroyed the peaceful atmosphere on the campuses. Unrest prevails in major colleges, including College of Engineering Thiruvananthapuram, one of the finest engineering colleges in the State; University Campus Kariavattom, the main campus of the University of Kerala; Sree Narayana College, Chembazhanthi; and University College, the oldest college in the State, following the recurring acts of violence between the two students’ organisations.All the above campuses were bastions of the SFI where the KSU units were inert during the rule of the LDF government and untoward incidents erupted after the KSU started to make its presence felt in the above campuses and the subsequent resistance from the part of the SFI. But the SFI leadership in the district refuses to attribute its resistance to the KSU’s emergence as the reason for the incidents of violence on campuses. Instead, the SFI leaders alleged that the clashes were a result of a conspiracy to mar the image of the SFI among the public. Taking things to a different level, SFI district president A A Rahim pointed his finger towards Kazhakkoottam MLA M A Vahid for the violence that occurred on campuses. Three out of the four colleges where unrest prevails happen to be in the Kazhakkoottam constituency. Rahim said that Vahid, who, he said, had a nexus with the real estate mafia in Kazhakkoottam region, wanted to utilise college students for their vested interests. "That is why they are specifically targeting the SFI activists of these three colleges,’’ he said. "If it was really about the emergence of KSU on campuses, why aren’t there any clashes in other colleges in the city?’’ Rahim asked. The people who unleashed attacks on the SFI members in CET included even notorious gangsters. The inmates of the men’s hostel at University College, Kariavattom, are also living in fear as they face threats from Congress henchmen in the locality, he alleged. SFI had never tried to harm the peaceful atmosphere on college campuses nor does it disrupt the classes of students, he said. ‘’We did not even once call for an education strike despite our leaders and members being bashed up by the police several times during our agitations. But this is not the case with the KSU. They have already disrupted the classes four times in the State this academic year for the smallest reasons,’’ Rahim said. Meanwhile, Vahid dismissed all allegations levelled against him by the SFI. He told City Express that he had intervened in the clashes that broke out in the educational institutions in his constituency only as the elected representative.‘’The leaders of both the SFI and the CPM should understand that if they continue to resist the emergence of other democratic organisations to ensure their monopoly, extremist organisations that have been seeking an opportunity would capitalise on the circumstances and woo frustrated youth who have lost their voice,’’ said the MLA.
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