Student strike in Law Academy intensifies;embarrasses LDF govt

The week-long students' strike in Kerala Law Academy, a private institution under public trust management, has caused embarrassment to the CPI(M) led LDF government, with students affiliated to the pro party Students Federation of India also joining the stir.
A group of students belonging to ABVP, KSU and SFI are on a sit in dharna in front of the Secretariat here to protest against the alleged harassment of students by the management and demanding the removal of the principal Lakshmi Nair.
She is the daughter of former CPI(M) MLA Kolliyakode Krishnan Nair's brother. She also conducts a famous cookery show in the party supported channel.

Meanwhile, CPI(M) veteran and state Administrative Reforms Committee Chairman V S Achuthanandan met the agitating students in front of the Secretariat and expressed his solidarity with them.
The former Chief Minister demanded that "excess land" occupied by the Academy nearby Peroorkkada should be recovered from them and said demand of the students were genuine
Extending support to the students, BJP national executive member V Muraleedharan today began a 48-hour-long fast in front of the college.The agitation was inaugurated by party national secretary Muralidhar Rao.

Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan also visited the agitating students to express their solidarity the other day.

However, Lakshmi Nair and the management members have denied the charges raised by students.
Nair also alleged that some people with 'vested interests' were using the students against the college.
She said the restrictionsin the hostel were imposed for the safety of students, especially girls
Many prominent politicians, cutting across party lines, are alumni of the decades-old Law Academy.
The agitation came into focus after the suicide of a first year engineering student at a self-financing college in Thrissur, allegedly due to harassment by the management.