"This is SFI and PFI Joint venture" : Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on protest against him

Feb 17, 2024

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], February 17 : Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan claimed on Saturday that all the protests that have been organised by student wing of the ruling CPI (M) against him are joint ventures of the Students Federation of India (SFI) and the Popular Front of India (PFI), a banned organisation by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
"All these protests that are being organised against me are not by SFI alone. That is a joint venture of SFI and PFI. I have gotten the report that twelve people have been arrested. Twelve people were arrested and five were. They said there were another five, although there were many more. Out of these twelve people who have been arrested, seven are known PFI volunteers. So this is not just SFI what the government is doing. They are telling the members of a banned organisation that if you join these protests, you do something nasty and then we will protect you. This is an SFI and PFI joint venture. Seven of them belong to the PFI." said Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan.
"This government is not only sheltering the PFI members of a banned organisation to create a law-and-order problem in Kerala. And I have already said that they are doing these things to provoke me to take some abstract action. But I am not going to oblige them," Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan alleged.
The Students Federation of India (SFI) staged a black flag protest against Kerala Governor Khan on Thursday.
SFI, a student wing of the ruling CPI (M), has been staging protests against the governor alleging that he has been pushing "BJP-RSS nominees" into various universities in Kerala, using his authority as the chancellor of universities in the state.
Earlier, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Friday alleged that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is asking the Students Federation of India (SFI) to organise the black flag protest against him.
The Kerala Governor said that on the one hand, the Chief Minister is asking the SFI to organise the protest, while on the other hand, "he puts the police there" to ensure that they do not come near the Governor.
"On one hand, the Chief Minister is asking the SFI to organise this protest. But he knows that if they touch me, what will be the consequences? He knows it. Therefore, he puts the police there to ensure that they do not come near me. On one hand, he is asking them to organise the protest. On the other hand, as the Home Minister of Kerala, he is asking the police to ensure they do not come near me," he said.
"The Chief Minister wants to save his job by ensuring that they do not come near my car, but he wants to sacrifice everybody else. He wants to exploit everybody. By now CM Vijayan should realise that I'll not be frightened, but the way he is distressing the policemen and exploiting the youngsters, it makes me feel sad," the Governor told the reporters.
Earlier, the Kerala Governor, also staged a protest on the wayside at Nilamel in Kollam, alleging police inaction after Student Federation of India (SFI) workers waved black flags at his motorcade.
The Governor, who was on his way to attend a function, stepped out of his car and rushed towards the protestors, loudly chastising the activists. He also expressed his ire at policemen for not arresting the SFI workers who showed black flags and staged a protest against him. Later SFI workers were arrested and remanded.