Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan has targeted the so-called historian Irfan Habib. Describing Habib as a ‘gali ka gunda’, he alleged that he had tried to suppress his voice by scuffles.

 

The Governor referred to the incident that took place in New Delhi on Tuesday (August 23, 2022). He stated about the incident of December 2019, when he had gone to inaugurate the Indian History Congress organized by Kannur University. In the programme, Irfan Habib was also one of the speakers.

 

Arif Mohammad Khan alleged that the historian went straight to him to scuffle . When the Governor was about to begin his address at the event, most of the delegates stood up from their seats and expressed their protest against his stand on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which was a burning issue at that time.

 

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan said these things in response to a question from the media in New Delhi. He said, “Is the job of an academic scholar to quarrel. Irfan Habib is ‘Gali Ka Gunda’. When I tried to reply, they scrambled and tried to suppress my voice.” In the past, Khan had also sharply criticized Kannur University Vice-Chancellor Gopinath Raveendran on the issue and termed him as a criminal.

 

The governor had alleged that the vice-chancellor had given 90-year-old Irfan Habib and others a long time to deliver speeches , but when he stood up to answer questions, an attempt was made to attack him. Regarding the ‘criminal’ remark on the VC, Khan said, “You all saw how my ADC (Aide-de-camp) was thrashed. His shirt was torn. Habib came straight to me to fight.” There has been no response from Irfan Habib on the governor’s allegations.

 

 

Governor Arif Mohammad Khan further said, “Vice Chancellor Raveendran was also part of the conspiracy of those who attacked me. He is holding the post of Vice Chancellor for political reasons. I was invited there by the Vice Chancellor on August 21. When I was attacked, what was his duty? Shouldn’t they have reported it to the police? But he didn’t do that.”

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