The SFI-led Mahatma Gandhi University Union has said it will go ahead with its National Conference despite the university’s decision to withhold the remaining grant over posters featuring the “cockroach” mascot. The conference, titled Discourses Beyond Boundaries: Sustainable Future in an Age of Conflict, is scheduled to be held at the university’s Kottayam campus from August 3 to 6.
The controversy centres on posters carrying the virtual mascot of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), which has become a symbol of recent student protests in New Delhi against alleged irregularities in the country’s education system. The posters, displayed across the campus, were used to promote the conference while expressing solidarity with the student movement.
The university had sanctioned ₹3.75 lakh for the event, releasing 75 per cent (₹2,81,280) in advance. However, it decided to withhold the remaining amount after the Union refused to remove the posters despite directions from the administration. The university said the publicity materials violated its circular prohibiting political content in programmes conducted using university funds, amounting to a breach of the Mahatma Gandhi University Students’ Code of Conduct Rules, 2005, and the University’s Code of Ethics and Conduct.
“We have already spent the advance amount on conference arrangements, including flight tickets and accommodation for guests. We need the remaining funds to conduct the event, but we will manage somehow. We are not taking even a step back. The conference will definitely be held,” Union chairman Abhinav M told Onmanorama.
The row began after interim Vice-Chancellor Dr D Mavoothu directed the Union to remove the posters before July 27. The Union refused, alleging that the circular had been selectively invoked. “The University Union Fund is collected from students studying in affiliated colleges. It exists to support student activities and represent students’ interests. The protests in Delhi were about issues affecting students. There is nothing wrong with a students’ union expressing solidarity with them,” Abhinav said.
Following the Union’s refusal, the Registrar directed that the sanctioned amount be refunded to the University Fund, stating that the Union had failed to comply with repeated instructions.
In its written explanation, the Union maintained that the publicity materials were intended solely to promote the official conference and not any political organisation. It argued that the university circular is vague because it does not define what constitutes “politics”. If the intention was to prohibit party politics, no such activity had taken place, it said, adding that a broader interpretation would infringe the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
The Union also rejected the allegation that the cockroach image amounted to “political activity”, citing Rule 4(6) of the Mahatma Gandhi University Students’ Code of Conduct Rules, 2005. It argued that the poster does not feature the name, symbol, flag or leader of any recognised political party or promote any party’s ideology. According to the Union, the image is merely a symbolic artistic representation of a contemporary issue and therefore cannot legally be classified as political activity. It further contended that the university had failed to identify any recognised political party allegedly promoted or specify which part of the poster violated the Code of Conduct.
Union members also claimed the objection to the posters originated from students affiliated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). They alleged that the Vice-Chancellor’s decision was influenced by a “saffron” agenda, while maintaining that the University Union, as the democratically elected student body, has every right to express students’ concerns through its official programmes.
