Thiruvananthapuram : In a startling disclosure, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said on Monday that there was an attempt on his life masterminded by Marxist historian Irfan Habib and the CPI(M) led Kerala Government. To substantiate his statement, the Governor showed video images of Irfan Habib and a gang rushing to the state threatening him of dire consequences.
“The incident happened during the inaugural function of the Indian History Congress at Kannur in 2019. Though the police personnel tried to control the situation and stop the people from reaching me, a senior functionary, who is in the Chief Minister’s Office, can be seen in the video preventing police from discharging their functions,” said the Governor.
Arif Mohammed Khan was referring to K K Ragesh, a formal global leader of the SFI and the DYFI and also an ex-Rajya Sabha member. “Mr Ragesh stopped the police from doing their duty. Possibly that is why he has been rewarded,” said the Governor referring to the appointment of Ragesh as the private secretary to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan immediately after the Kannur incident.
Interestingly, Ragesh and his wife Priya Varghese are in the news now because of the controversy associated with her appointment as associate professor in Kannur University though she failed to possess the stipulated educational or professional qualifications as stipulated by the University Grants Commission.
Governor Arif Mohammed Khan also released copies of three letters written by Pinarayi Vijayan to the former pleading for giving another term to Gopinatha Raveendran, the retiring vice chancellor of Kannur University. “The chief minister requested me to reappoint the vice chancellor as he hailed from the same village. Vijayan also assured me that he would not meddle with appointment in universities,” said the Governor.
He further stated that despite his ADC filing a report about the planned attack on him by Irfan Habib and others, the Kerala Government sat over it and did not register any case, which under Section 124 of the Indian Penal Code is a cognizable offence which could be punished with seven years imprisonment and fine.
Arif Mohammed Khan also justified his meeting with RSS sarsangh sanchalak Dr Mohan Bhagawat at Thrissur on Saturday. “There is no rule that prevents me from meeting the RSS chief. Atal Bihari Vajpayee had declared that he was a Swayamsevak first and then only a Prime Minister. I have been maintaining good contacts with the RSS since 1965. The Communists who pursue an imported ideology do not have the basic sense to understand the significance of an institution like RSS,” said the Governor.
The CPI(M) fielded an array of loudmouths to abuse the Governor by calling him names ranging from mentally unbalanced person to a stooge of Hindutva forces. Since the attackers were LDF Convenor E P Jayarajan ( who is known as a buffoon in CPI(M) circles), A K Balan, former minister and M V Govindan, the drill master-turned party’s state secretary, the people do not take their versions seriously.