Pinarayi Vijayan protests alleged police assault on SFI students

Pinarayi Vijayan, the Leader of the Opposition, has written to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to protest an alleged police assault on SFI students at the University of Kerala. Vijayan described the incident as a “brutal lathi charge” carried out without provocation against students who were peacefully protesting the compulsory singing of the full version of Vande Mataram.

Vijayan alleged that male police officers assaulted female students in the absence of female personnel, calling it a “serious violation of the law.” He argued that a long-standing consensus to sing only the first two stanzas of the anthem exists to protect India’s pluralistic character, and accused the Sangh Parivar of attempting to break this tradition.

The opposition leader further accused the Congress-led state government of “appeasing the Sangh Parivar” and adopting a “fascist” approach toward student protests in Kerala, contrasting this with the party's national stance. He also criticized the state government's legal position regarding the University Act, suggesting it grants the Governor excessive supremacy over universities.