A two-member committee appointed by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to look into the issues raised by the students of the state-run KR Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts (KRNNIVSA) at Thekkumthala near Kottayam will submit its report today, Friday, January 13. The protesting students have also received support from the film fraternity and cultural figures.
The committee consists of chairman K Jayakumar, former chief secretary and Dr N K Jayakumar, former vice-chancellor of the National University of Advanced Legal Studies. They have already completed collecting details from the students, teachers and non-teaching staff of the institute, its governing council members and others.
Moreover, the committee's chairman told The New Indian Express that a report was under preparation and would be submitted to the CM. It is learnt that the government will take a decision on the basis of the report soon. Meanwhile, students are going ahead with their 'art of protest', combining parallel academics with the stir. They have prepared a chart of their academic activities and are continuing their studies on their own.
Simultaneously, the film fraternity has been providing assistance in arranging interactive sessions with the students and are offering online classes. In this regard, directors such as Rajiv Ravi, Sanju Surendran, Jeo Baby, Ashiq Abu, Krishnendu Kalesh and Kamal KM arrived at the institute for interactive sessions in the previous days, Punjabi director Gurvinder Singh, actor Sujith Sankar and others joined with the students in the online sessions.
Giving more details, students' council chairman at the institute Sreedev Suprakash said, "Director Amal Neerad joined the interactive session on today (Thursday). Activists Maitreyan and Oorali band members will visit the campus tomorrow. More people from the film fraternity have offered support and they will be arriving here in the coming days."
Meanwhile, security measures have been tightened by the institute's management to avoid the entry of outsiders extending support for the protest. Earlier, the institute director had issued an order stipulating prior written permission of the director or the administrative officer for people other than bona fide students belonging to batches of 2019 and 2022, faculty members and permitted staff for entering the campus. Following this, students shifted their academic activities to an auditorium near the institute, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
Moreover, observing the indefinite stir continuing for more than a month, the government has softened its stance towards the agitating students. Though the district collector's order of shutting down the institute till January 15 to avoid law and order issues in view of the protests prevails, the authorities didn't exert pressure to evict students from the institute hostel.
