LAW ACADEMY STRIKE ENDS

LAW ACADEMY STRIKE ENDS

The 29-day-long student agitation at the Kerala Law Academy Law College came to an end on Wednesday following conciliatory talks held by Education Minister C. Ravindranath with representatives of student organisations and the management.As per the agreement, P. Lekshmi Nair will be removed from the post of Principal, based on a decision of the governing council. A new Principal with all the requisite qualifications will be appointed in her place, as per the university guidelines. In case the management goes back on its decision, the government would intervene, the agreement, signed by the Minister, the student organisations and the management said.

Later, the Minister told presspersons that no time period had been specified for the new Principal. He said the management had assured that Ms. Lekshmi Nair would not return even as a faculty for the next five years.‘‘All student organisations have agreed to the terms and they all cooperated with an intention to end the impasse. The classes at the academy will resume on Monday,’’ the Minister said.On being asked how the new agreement was different from the previous one arrived at between the Students Federation of India (SFI) and the management, he said the management had now formally issued a notification for the new Principal, unlike last time. The notification for the new Principal, which appeared in Wednesday's newspapers, had called for an interview for the post on February 18.

Earlier in the day, CPI leaders Kanam Rajendran and V.S. Sunilkumar had held meetings with student organisations, which led to a softening in their stand.Following the discussions with the Education Minister, the student organisations, except the SFI which had ended its strike last week, broke out into celebrations outside the meeting venue at the Secretariat and on the academy campus.However, the SFI leaders maintained that there was no difference between the agreement that they arrived at with the management and the one on Wednesday. They said that no governing council meeting had been held after their agreement and hence the decisions cited in the latest agreement were the same as the one in their own agreement.Congress leader K. Muraleedharan and BJP leader V.V. Rajesh, who were on a fast in front of the campus for the past seven days, also ended it soon after the decision was announced.

Prof. John Kurakar