Kerala Home Ministry has sent a letter to the Education Department in the wake of the Intelligence reports that technical education institutions and universities are turning weapon manufacturing centres, and the Government keeps mum about it.
The Government has boiled down its concern into a four-line circular. Janmabhumi, pro-nationalist Malayalam news daily, exposed the Intelligence reports on January 12. Janam TV, the nationalist Malayalam channel, had telecast the weapon manufacturing in a work experience laboratory.
Reports suggest that the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Intelligence, TK Vinod kumar, on December 21, 2022, had reported to the Home Ministry that weapon manufacturing takes place in the work experience laboratories of the educational institutions.
His report must be based on the complaints that such weapon manufacturing was taking place in the Dhanuvachapuram Government Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in Parassala, the southern tip of Thiruvananthapuram District. The report highlighted the possible risk to public safety and security in the wake of weapons manufacturing in Educational Institutes.
ADGP also urged the State Government to issue strict guidelines to ensure that activities do not happen in the laboratories of Technical Education Institutions.
There are reports of the manufacturing of fatal weapons, including 20cm long machetes, in the Mechanical laboratories of Engineering Colleges and Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in the State. They are for violence within and without the campus.
The report also says that even though teachers know this ‘phenomenon’, they do not take any action. The Technical Education Department circular is very vague. It asks teachers and laboratory staff to observe and supervise the laboratory activities of the students keenly. That is all! It was issued on January 8 by Dr Byjubai T P, Director-in-charge of the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), to the heads of the Technical Institutions, teachers and lab staff.
The Government resorted to this circular to protect the Students Federation of India (SFI) and Leftist Teachers. Central Intelligence is in the process of collecting the information in this regard.
Even though the circulars or reports do not disclose the names of the organisations involved, it is widely suspected that the CPM-controlled Students Federation of India (SFI) and outlawed Popular Front of India (PFI) should be behind this. Media reports are suggesting the same.
This alarming situation proves how dangerous the heavy politicisation of Educational Institutions is. It speaks out that support for campus violence gets sans much publicity.
