Has Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, who is the Chancellor of all the state universities, actually raised his voice in support of the Anna University Vice-Chancellor Dr M K Surappa? According to a report by the Times of India, he has written a letter to the state's Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, expressing his displeasure over a committee being set up to investigate the alleged financial irregularities and power abuse by Surappa.
However, speculations are rife about whether the letter was actually sent. Raj Bhavan sources declined to confirm if such a letter was indeed sent by the Governor.
The report also said that the Governor had certified the good conduct of the VC. During the course of the previous week, Surappa had moved the Madras High Court to implead a PIL filed to quash the order of inquiry against him. A few days after, Makkal Needhi Maiam Founder and actor Kamal Haasan had spoken out in support of the academician in a video uploaded on his social media handles. "Surappa's ideologies may be different. But when one is hunted down for his honesty, I won't be a mere spectator. This isn't a problem between an educator and a politician but between an honest man and corrupt politicians," Haasan said. Following the same, Haasan had to face a lot of criticism from activists, politicians and Twitterati.
The tiff between Surappa and the government began earlier this year after the latter opposed his proposal to procure an Institute of Eminence (IoE) tag for the university by approaching the centre for funding. Talking to EdexLive a few weeks back, Surappa said that he was being "crucified for standing by the truth". "Now, even 75 years after Independence, someone like me who stood by the truth and tried to evade corruption has been crucified. This is shocking, considering that it is happening in a democracy. It, in fact, pains me. If I am not being truthful, everyone has a chance to persecute me. But I stand for unquestionable truth. Society should understand that and help me take the country forward," he then said.