Union Home Ministry extends Z+ security to Kerala Governor Arif Khan after face-off with SFI activists
Kerala,Jan 27 : Amid escalating tensions between Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the Student Federation of India (SFI), a student wing of the ruling CPI(M) party, the Union Home Ministry on Saturday granted Z+ security to Raj Bhavan and the Governor.
This move came after the Governor’s roadside sit-in protest over a black flag demonstration by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the ruling CPI(M) party.
The high drama unfolded on Saturday when Arif Khan’s convoy was stopped in Kollam district, about 40 km from the state capital, by SFI activists waving black flags and shouting slogans against him.
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The governor, visibly angered by the protest, got out of his car and confronted the students, demanding action against them.
After the police removed the protestors from the area, Khan took a chair from a shop on the busy Road and sat down there demanding action against the agitators.
He was seen arguing with the police and even asking his personal staff to get him the Police Commissioner.
The dramatic scenes continued for over two hours, with Khan refusing to leave until he was shown a copy of the FIR lodged against the SFI activists.
Finally, the police presented him with a copy of the FIR registered against 17 SFI activists under non-bailable provisions of the law.
Accusing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of promoting lawlessness in the state, Khan charged, “It is him who is giving direction to the police to give protection to these lawbreakers, including the state president of the organisation (SFI), against whom many criminal cases are pending in the courts.”
He also questioned whether the protestors would have been allowed to line up alongside the police on the roadside if the Chief Minister was passing through that route.
Khan also claimed that the protestors tried to hit his vehicle.
-PTI
