Tension on campus

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The dilapidated condition of the hostels on the Kariavattom campus of University of Kerala has been a major matter of concern for the University authorities for the past two years. This, despite numerous untoward incidents like collapse of hostel buildings and the uncertainty that followed regarding the accommodation of students.  Once again, the campus is in the midst of news after tension broke out on Friday during the visit of MLA Hibi Eden to the campus in connection with the collapse of a portion of the researchers’ hostel recently. The SFI and KSU activists exchanged allegations and blamed each other for being responsible for the untoward incidents that occurred on the campus.  According to SFI activists, Hibi Eden had visited the campus after the State Assembly dispersed, accompanied by the KSU activists on the campus, to examine the damaged hostel building. But on the same day, the SFI activists had locked down the hostel building and were staging a dharna in front of the campus in protest against the sluggish attitude of the university authorities in carrying out maintenance works at the hostel.  Seeing the hostel in a locked State, the KSU activists became agitated and destroyed the main door and the windows of the hostel so that the MLA could enter inside and examine the situation. A tiff arose between the SFI and KSU activists after the former questioned the action of the latter of destroying the hostel property.  Meanwhile, the KSU activists claimed that they did not cause any tumult and the door of the hostel was opened in the presence of the Joint Registrar of the University, who had the charge of the hostel.  They also alleged that one of their activists were injured in the attack by the SFI activists.  Even though the police rushed to the campus after the tension broke out, they did not register a case as they received no complaint.  On Tuesday, a chunk of ceiling of the second floor of the researchers’ hostel had fallen off from the roof seriously injuring an inmate, Jayaprakash, a research scholar with the Sanskrit Department there. He had sustained a long cut on his forehead which needed as many as eight stitches.