Published Aug 17, 2026 | 4:01 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 17, 2026 | 4:01 PM
SSUS protest reaches Lok Bhavan amid allegations of manhandling and mock funeral.
Synopsis: A students’ protest at the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit has escalated after Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar intervened over allegations of manhandling and the mock funeral of Vice-Chancellor Ciza Thomas. Students, however, questioned the allegations and said the focus on the protest has overshadowed unresolved campus issues and the administration’s lack of communication.
A recent protest at the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit (SSUS), Kalady, in Kerala’s Ernakulam district has now reached the office of Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar. The protest, which continued for 29 days, took a controversial turn on 13 August when SFI activists staged a symbolic mock funeral on the campus.
Speaking to South First, students said the mock funeral was held to draw attention to a damaged spotlight on the campus that had remained unattended.
However, Vice-Chancellor Dr Ciza Thomas alleged during a Syndicate meeting that the demonstration was aimed at her.
Four SFI activists — Mebin Jose (24), Basil Scaria (29), Vijeesh (23) and Yadhu Krishnan (19) — have been arrested in connection with the protest.
The Vice-Chancellor accused the students of manhandling her and the Syndicate members. Students, however, have rejected the allegation as baseless.
But the controversy surrounding the mock funeral is only one part of a larger dispute, students said.
They said a series of unresolved grievances and alleged administrative lapses forced them to protest at the university. They argued that the 13 August incidents and the subsequent arrests overshadowed those long-standing issues.
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Police said the arrests were made in connection with an FIR registered on 13 August based on a complaint from a police officer deployed at the campus. According to the FIR, around 65 SFI activists gathered outside the university’s administrative block, protesting against Thomas and Syndicate members over alleged deficiencies in campus facilities.
The protesters allegedly blocked the officials, raised slogans and refused to disperse despite repeated directions from the police.
The FIR stated that after a Syndicate meeting, Thomas and other officials took a lift to the ground floor around 7 pm but were allegedly prevented from leaving the area by the protesters.
Police alleged that the activists assaulted their officers, who were trying to clear the passage.
The FIR further stated that the police had to use force to disperse the protesters and facilitate the movement of Thomas and the other university officials.
Two cases have been registered over the protest.
The first named 78 people in connection with the alleged confrontation with police, while a second case was registered on Sunday, 16 August, following Thomas’s complaint that she and Syndicate members were manhandled. The case named 18 people, including theatre students who had staged a symbolic last rites protest near the administrative office.
The four activists were arrested in the case relating to the alleged clash with police. Police said the investigation into Thomas’s allegation of being manhandled was in an early stage.
Following the incident, vice-chancellors of universities across Kerala jointly condemned the protest.
The SFI has announced a campus strike on Monday, 17 August.
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Meanwhile, speaking to South First, Abhiram R, SFI unit chief at SSUS, said students had been protesting for more than a month over several administrative issues, including the student-teacher ratio and infrastructure deficiencies.
SSUS protest
”Students have been protesting for over a month over administrative issues such as the student-teacher ratio and infrastructure lapses. But everything has now been reduced to the narrative that we held a mock funeral for the Vice-Chancellor. That is completely baseless,” he said.
Adithya, a student at the university, told South First that the mock funeral was a protest organised by theatre department students over non-functional spotlights.
”The mock funeral was a protest by theatre department students. As theatre students, they presented their protest creatively. The spotlights have not been working for months, even though they are essential for performances. The issue was raised several times. The students then carried the spotlights out and symbolically conducted their last rites to protest their continued non-functional status,” she said.
Adithya said neither the Vice-Chancellor’s name nor her photograph was used during the protest.
”There was no reference to the Vice-Chancellor. But she took offence at the creative protest personally, leading to a false narrative being spread,” she alleged.
Students have also raised concerns over the latest FIR registered in connection with the protest. They alleged that the FIR included the names of students who were not present on campus at the time and were engaged in fieldwork along with faculty members. They also claimed that the FIR included first-year undergraduate students and women students.
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One of the major issues raised by students concerns the university’s certificates. Until 2019, SSUS issued manuscript certificates, which students said affected their credibility and cost them academic and employment opportunities.
Dr Ciza Thomas.
The university began issuing printed certificates in 2025.
However, students alleged that the Sanskrit text and layout on the certificates contained spelling and other errors. A revised certificate design was subsequently prepared and approved.
Students said the revised certificates have yet to be issued due to delays in convening Syndicate meetings. They alleged that students have neither received the corrected certificates nor had those with errors replaced.
They complained that the delay affected their applications for higher studies and other opportunities that required valid academic certificates.
Students also flagged delays in issuing grace marks. They alleged that the Vice-Chancellor had not signed the grace-mark certificates of students who participated in NCC activities and South Zone arts festivals.
They said several of those awaiting the grace marks could potentially complete or pass their courses if the marks were credited. Still, the delay in signing the certificates had created further academic difficulties.
Research scholars at the university have also previously raised concerns over delays in stipends and what they described as bound labour conditions.
Students further pointed to problems at SSUS’s distance education centres in Payyanur, Tirur, Panmana, Koyilandy and Ettumanoor. They alleged that these centres lacked adequate faculty and infrastructure, with some departments, including musicology, functioning with only one faculty member.
They further alleged that delays in releasing funds and signing files affected the university’s functioning and added to the grievances that led to the ongoing student protest.
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The ongoing protest has now reached the Lok Bhavan, with Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar intervening and summoning State Police Chief Ravada A. Chandrasekhar.
Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar
The Governor, who is also the Chancellor of state universities, is learnt to have sought stringent action over the alleged manhandling of Vice-Chancellor Dr Ciza Thomas and the controversial mock funeral staged by protesting students.
Thomas told South First that the mock funeral was deeply humiliating and intimidating, saying she had never encountered such an incident in her more than three decades in teaching and administration.
She said the protesters had crossed all limits by targeting her with the demonstration.
According to sources within the university, Arlekar spoke directly to Thomas and has been closely following the developments at the university after the 13 August protest.
However, students argued that the focus on the mock funeral and the allegations of manhandling has overshadowed several longstanding issues at the university that led to the protest in the first place.
Students questioned the allegation that the Vice-Chancellor was manhandled, pointing out that she arrived and left the campus under police protection. They sought evidence to substantiate the allegation and questioned how students could have physically attacked the Vice-Chancellor in the presence of police personnel.
The protesting students said the bigger problem at SSUS was the absence of meaningful communication between the administration and students. They alleged that there have been no proper meetings or two-way discussions on the issues they raised.
For the students, this communication gap was at the heart of the continuing dispute.
They said that several concerns over campus facilities and other administrative issues remain unresolved, even as the controversy surrounding the mock funeral has become the dominant narrative around the protest.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
