Lakhmi Nair's removal won't solve problems for Law Academy, CPM

The director board of the Kerala Law Academy, which is dominated by the kith and kin of celebrity cookery show host Lakshmi Nair, is likely to remove her as the principal of the academy following a raging student protest. 

The removal is widely considered imminent after the police registering a case on Monday against her for allegedly abusing a Dalit student of the Academy by calling caste. The student protesters gathered in front of the Academy is getting ready for victory march, much ahead of the official confirmation of the resignation of the principal. 

The removal of Nair would mark the success of 20-days of agitation by students organisations including the Students Federation of India (SFI). The BJP also chipped in with its former state president V Muraleedharan starting an indefinite fast.

When the BJP effectively highjacked the Law Academy protests, the CPM felt the heat as there was a general perception that the party was backing Lakshmi Nair because she is a close relative of senior party leader and former MLA Koliyakkode Krishnan Nair. The party state secretary's statement that the CPM had not taken up the protest and the reluctance in demanding Nair's resignation as principal, gave credence to the allegations that the CPM was supporting her. 
 

Related: Lakshmi Nair stays put: CPM in a fix as Kerala witnesses FTII-like stir
 

The CPM members of the Kerala University Syndicate were very particular that the body did not take a conclusive resolution against the academy in its crucial meeting on Saturday. 

Even if Lakshmi Nair is removed as the Principal, academy's worries are far from over, as it would see further agitation demanding the recovery of over 11 acres of public land handed over to the academy.  Sources in the BJP said that the party is planning to launch a land struggle demanding distribution of the land in possession of the academy to the landless Dalits. 

The website of the Academy says that the 11.49 acres of public land were allotted to it in 1968.  M N Govindan Nair, who was the Minister for Agriculture then, took a keen interest, and this request was granted, it said.  "E M S Namboodiripad, who was the Chief Minister, K R  Gowri and C H Mohammed Koya, who were ministers in charge of Revenue and Education respectively, were also very helpful in this regard. The Academy took possession of the land and buildings on 30th February 1968. The lease, which was initially for three years was extended to thirty years in 1976, and the land was assigned to Kerala Law Academy in 1985." 

Meanwhile, the clamour for the revocation of land assignment to the Academy is getting louder. 

The former Chief Minister and  CPM veteran VS Achuthanandan also demanded that the land allotted to the academy should be taken back. When Revenue Minister E Chandrashekharan said that his department had not received any complaint regarding the land, Achuthanandan quickly responded on Monday by filing a complaint, putting the government and the academy in a tight spot. 

• Lakshmi Nair
• Kerala Law Academy
• CPM
• BJP Kerala