THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: CPM Thiruvananthapuram district secretary Kadakampally Surendran on Friday apologised to Mr T P Sreenivasan for the attack by SFI activists on him at the venue of the Global Education Meet.
“We disapprove of such attacks,” he told reporters here. “I, on behalf of our party, say sorry for the incident.”
Meanwhile, the intelligentsia in the state strongly condemned the attack on Mr Sreenivasan. Misguided assailants do not realize that the attack diverts attention from the issue they seek to espouse, they said.
Historian and social critic Prof M G S Narayanan said the cruel physical attack on Mr Sreenivasan by goons, claiming to be students, was highly deplorable. “He is one of our cultured intellectuals, mellowed by knowledge, wisdom and age,” he said.
“That this happened under the nose of the police in the capital city is all the more deplorable. It is reported that the main assailant remained at large. The political group to which these goondas belong should immediately expel them or that group has to be ostracized in public.
“I hope the people of Kerala will come out as one man to condemn this crime. The Government should take punitive action so that such political crime is not repeated”, said Prof Narayanan.
Former Kerala University Vice-Chancellor B Ekbal condemned the attack, saying it was not the civilized route to dispute resolution.
“A large section of society does not subscribe to the education policy mooted by the higher education council but differences ought to be settled through debates and not by violence on the streets”, he said.
Prof Sabu Padmadas of the demography division of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Southampton said the attack near the Global Education Meet venue was unfortunate.
