Guv steps out again to take on SFI activists in Kannur

IN what has become a familiar scene, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Monday evening vented his ire on the protesting SFI activists, the student wing of the CPI-M, when he got out of his vehicle and moved towards the protesters at Mattannur in Kannur District.

The incident took place when he was going to the Kannur Airport after visiting Wayanad District.

However, the armed security personnel with Khan acted quickly and formed a cordon around him even while he was moving towards the protesters numbering about 100.

Khan got irked because the SFI protesters were carrying a banner with the slogan, “Sanghi Governor, get out of Kannur.”

An angry Khan shouted, “I will stop my car and get out and come near you every time there is a protest.”

On Thursday, too, the same scene had played out when Khan, while travelling through Thrissur, came out of the car after SFI activists waved black flags at him.

There, too, his security men advised him to get inside the car, which he did.

Khan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan have been at loggerheads for a while now. On January 27, things went out of hand when Khan during a visit to Kollam District staged a protest by sitting on the road for two hours against the “lapse” on the part of Kerala Police for not taking action against SFI protesters who came near his vehicle.

The Centre had intervened on that day itself, as it placed the Governor under Z+ security cover of the CRPF.