Kerala Guv Khan stages wayside protest as SFI members wave black flags at him

Governor Arif Mohammed Khan protested SFI activists in Nilamel, demanding their arrest. He sat in front of a wayside shop on Saturday.

Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Saturday got out of his vehicle and sat in front of a wayside shop demanding the arrest of SFI activists who protested against him in Nilamel in this district.

He took a chair from the shop on the busy MC Road here and sat demanding action against the agitators. In the visuals aired on TV channels, a visibly angry Khan could be seen talking tough to the police personnel.

Besides police, his officials and local people gathered in large numbers at the spot. A number of activists of the ruling CPI(M)’s students’ wing Student Federation of India staged a black flag protest against the Governor when he was on his way to nearby Kottarakkara for a function.

Khan and the Left government have been at loggerheads over several issues, primarily about the functioning of universities in the state and his non-signing of certain bills passed by the assembly. Amid the face-off, on Thursday, the Governor had finished his customary policy address to the Kerala Assembly within two minutes, reading out only the last paragraph.