District Collector PK Jayasree sent orders on December 24 to close the KR Narayanan Institute of Visual Science and Arts at Thekkumthala near Kottayam for two weeks. With this, the protest by students at the institute has taken a new turn, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
The institute director was told to implement the order without delay. With the collector's order directing students to vacate the hostel, the protesters have decided to temporarily suspend the agitation in front of the institute. Students said that the protests will be resumed again when the institute reopens on January 8, 2023.
Further, the students are planning to seek other options to enliven the issues they raised, including caste discrimination on the part of institute director Shankar Mohan. Sharing their concerns, the student stressed that even though the collector's directive came on Friday night, the institute director issued the order asking the students to vacate the hostel immediately only by Saturday evening, which put many in trouble.
Students speak up
"There are students here from outside Kerala. It is difficult for them to travel at night. As soon as we received the order on Saturday evening, we contacted the collector and sought time to vacate the hostel. Accordingly, we will be leaving the campus on Sunday morning," said Sreedev Suprakash, Chairman of the student council.
The collector's order under Section 81 of the Kerala Police Act 2011 was to shut the institute till January 8. This decision was taken in view of the students' warning to escalate the protest into a hunger strike from Christmas and the possible worsening of the law and order situation.
To recall, the students have been protesting since December 5 demanding the ouster of the institute director alleging caste discrimination, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
