SFI district committee member and college unit secretary Naseem has been named as the prime suspect in the stabbing of a student today in Kerala. This morning, a third-year student of University College in Thiruvananthapuram was stabbed during a scuffle on the campus.
The police have registered FIRs against five members of the SFI including Naseem. The FIR has been registered for stabbing Akhil, a student of BA Politics. Akhil has been admitted to the Medical College Hospital with injuries to the chest and is currently in a stable condition.
Reportedly, Akhil was also an SFI member. He and his friends used to sing in the college canteen making percussive sounds on the desks and benches. The canteen was situated next to the SFI unit room. A female SFI student leader disapproved of the noise. She lodged a complaint with the SFI unit seeking a ban on singing inside the canteen.
This led to a verbal fight between Akhil and other members of SFI for several days. There was a minor scuffle on the 10th. A reconciliation meeting was arranged on Friday. It was then when the fight escalated. One of Akhil’s friend was attacked, following which a large group of people rushed into the college and took on Akhil’s group. In the ensuing chaos, Akhil was stabbed.
After the incident took place, students had arranged a large protest against SFI. Several SFI members also took part in the protest. Students slammed the SFI for being fascist. One of the protesters said, “We are all supporters of the SFI, but today the 13 unit members in the college are acting like fascists. None can freely move around the college and if we sit around a tree or sing songs, we are abused beaten and chased away”.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5DRNvmY5oA]
The all India president of SFI, VP Sanu, announced today that the SFI unit of the University College in Thiruvananthapuram would be dismissed. As per reports, college authorities haven’t responded to the incident. The media have also been forcefully removed from the campus.
21-year-old Naseem has several criminal cases against him. In December 2018, he was wanted for beating up two traffic policemen after they had questioned him for violating a traffic signal. The police haven’t been able to nab him for over a month. He had surrendered in January after he was spotted in full public view at a function that was attended by two state ministers.
The Student Federation of India (SFI) is the student body of the ruling CPM party. The SFI had previously put up a derogatory poster of Sabarimala’s Lord Ayyappa at the Kerelaverma College in Thrissur
