Controversy erupts at Kerala's Nirmala college after students demand Friday prayer space

Ernakulam (Kerala) [India], July 29 : A controversy erupted in Kerala's Muvattupuzha Nirmala College, after a group of students demanded space to offer Friday prayers.
The Syro-Malabar Public Affairs Commission has come out in support of the principal of the college after students besieged the college principal and chanted slogans, demanding that a room be given to students belonging to a particular religious group to pray in the college campus.
"It is a matter of concern that units of the two dominant student organizations in Kerala have taken the lead in polluting the college atmosphere by raising such a demand which has no legal or moral validity. The conspiracy and motives behind such activities should be investigated. The Syro-Malabar Public Affairs Commission has requested the government to provide necessary protection to Nirmala College and its authorities, including the principal, to avoid further untoward situations," the public affairs commission stated in an official release.
The Commission said that the recent incidents have disrupted the academic environment of the college.
"It is a matter of concern that units of the two dominant student organizations in Kerala have taken the lead in polluting the college atmosphere by raising such a demand which has no legal or moral validity. The conspiracy and motives behind such activities should be investigated. The Syro-Malabar Public Affairs Commission has requested the government to provide necessary protection to Nirmala College and its authorities, including the principal, to avoid further untoward situations," Commission said.
Clarifying its stand, the SFI released a statement and said that it has always been dedicated to preserving secularism on campuses in Kerala.
The organization highlighted its understanding that permitting rituals from any single religion could lead to the performance of all religious rituals on campus, thus undermining the secular nature of these institutions.
SFI asserted that it did not call for a strike to defend the religious practices of any specific group at Muvattupuzha Nirmala College.
They criticized the Sangh Parivar and CASA centers for falsely accusing SFI of inciting a student protest regarding two students praying. The SFI leadership on that campus, including the SFI Area President, was not involved in that protest. SFI expressed disappointment that false claims from the Sangh Parivar - CASA were being propagated by some leftist profiles on social media. SFI State President K Anushree and Secretary PM Arshaw urged activists to understand the truth and help disseminate it.
Joyal, a 3rd year student of Nirmala College, Muvattupuzha recounted that "a girl student was doing her prayers in restroom and a cleaning lady suggested her to use the Mosque that's really close to the College and which is at walkable distance. Cleaning lady inquired about the cleanliness of the restroom and is it clean enough to perform Friday prayers"
"Those suggestions were disliked by the girl and she went ahead and had a discussion with religious leaders which eventually made things worse. He said whatever coming in news is false and nothing sort of like this happened. Everyone is trying to intervene and make it look like Muslim- Christian issue," he said.
Abel Vattam, Nirmala College PRO said the students demanded a common prayer hall, not a prayer hall for Muslims... but other parties with vested interests portrayed this as a Christian minority institution denying permission to Muslim students and Muslim students not getting a space to conduct prayers...
"Our College's official response is this institution has been secular since 71 years and we are planning to continue in that way.. that's why we are not promoting common prayer hall," he said.
Dr Jestin Kuriakose, Principal of the Nirmala College said, "Our has shown excellence in academic and has been at the forefront of academic excellence since 72 years. We are an institution with autonomy status. 3000 plus students are studying here in this prestigious institution. Actions that create religious rivalry through false propaganda should be avoided"
"In its 72-year history, there has never been such a demand. How can we categorize or discriminate them? At the end of the day, they are the students of Nirmala College. So if they make mistakes, it's our responsibility to rectify and correct them. We should avoid creating religious rivalry or giving this issue a communal colour," the principal said.
Kerala higher education minister R Bindu said, "The government were successful in handling the issue locally at their level .It is a very sensitive matter The issue is over . So there is no need for any further discussion on this .Let us close the chapter".