Pro-Palestine mime re-staged in Kerala school amid protests
Kasaragod (PTI): Students of Kumbala Government Higher Secondary School (GHSS) on Monday re-staged a pro-Palestine mime show that was disrupted by teachers last week in this district.
The mime, performed by six students dressed in black, was part of the school’s art festival and drew a large audience.
This time, students adhered to the guidelines and did not raise any placards or the Palestine flag.
While the performers refrained from chanting slogans, some members of the audience were heard shouting pro-Palestine slogans.
"We are very happy to get the opportunity to stage the mime again. We thank everyone who supported us. Our intention is to showcase the sufferings of people in Palestine, and it was not against anyone," a student involved in the performance told reporters.
Meanwhile, BJP activists staged a protest march against the mime at the school. Police blocked the protestors before they could reach the school gate.
"It is illegal to shout slogans supporting another country at a school event. A case should be registered and an investigation conducted," the protestors demanded.
Education Minister VSivankutty wrote on his Facebook page, hailing the re-staging of the pro-Palestine mime, saying the government stands firmly with the democratic and secular rights of students and their freedom of expression.
In a statement, the minister said the promise given to students on re-staging the mime has been fulfilled.
"The students’ creative protest expressing solidarity with the people of Palestine has successfully reached the stage. This government once again declares strongly that it stands with the democratic and secular rights of children, as well as their freedom of expression," Sivankutty said.
It is our duty to give our children the courage and encouragement to raise their voices against injustice anywhere in the world, the minister added.
He also congratulated the organisers, teachers, and students.
Last Friday, the mime was disrupted midway by two teachers who forced the organisers to close the stage curtains, drawing sharp criticism. The Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) subsequently held a meeting on Saturday and decided to suspend the arts festival.
Student organisations, MSF and SFI, later protested against the teachers, demanding action.
Minister Sivankutty intervened, stating that Kerala supports Palestine and the mime would be staged again.
The Education Department is conducting an inquiry into the incident, including the involvement of the two teachers who stopped the mime show.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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