Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, has introduced gender-neutral toilets. Authorities claimed anyone can enter these toilets without hesitation. There is no distinction between male, female and heterosexual. There are seven such toilets in the college.

In 2018, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) (an alliance of left-wing political parties in Kerala) government admitted students based on their preferred gender. This led to gender confusion among teenagers and transgender students joining colleges. 12 transgender scholars joined Maharaja’s college.

Communist mouthpiece Deshabhimani claimed M Anamika, a second-year botany student and Ananya Das, a second-year B.Sc. Maths pupils said they had seen boards written male and female in front of the toilets since their school days. They were surprised at first When they joined Maharaja’s college. After getting used to it, there was no shock anymore. BA Islamic History second-year student Adarsh ​​and BA Philosophy second-year student PR Shemeem said this is a ‘revolutionary’ decision.

The principal of Maharajas College, Dr Shajila Beevi S, proudly presented the toilets and gently named them ‘gender-friendly’ washrooms. Beevi is an assistant professor and heads the Islamic History department. She is also a Mahatma Gandhi University syndicate member.

There were two gender-friendly toilets when Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the new academic block in 2021, said Beevi. The principal said two each were constructed in the new auditorium and the library complex.

There are separate toilets for boys and girls everywhere. While some male students responded that it was a progressive change, many girls lamented that they would lose their privacy and that the earlier washrooms would be better.

In February, Maharajas College professor Nizamuddin K M, against whom inquiry is being conducted for misconduct towards students, was transferred to University College, Thiruvananthapuram. The college witnessed massive protests by students and forced authorities to act. Beevi claimed the transfer request was on medical grounds and added investigation against him would continue.

Since October 2021, the college has had four principals, showing the dismal state of things at an institution that once held a prominent place in the state’s higher education sector. The once proud college has been reduced to a shadow of itself.

In October 2023, Students Federation of India (SFI) goons confined former Principal Dr VS Joy and Vice-principal Dr Pooja P Balasundaram for six hours to protest the suspension of two SFI leaders for violence and ragging on the campus. Lecturers noted that SFI targeting the principal had become common in the college.

Dr Joy became entangled in a dispute after SFI state secretary P M Arsho’s name appeared on the mark list for the third-semester exam of the integrated PG programme in archaeology and material culture studies. However, no marks or grades were recorded against his name for any subjects.

Maharaja’s College was closed indefinitely on 18 January following clashes between rival student organisations and reopened after a week. Following the skirmishes, the directorate of collegiate education transferred Dr Joy to Sree Neelakanta Sanskrit College in Pattambi.

Maharaja’s College is situated right in the heart of Ernakulam city. The entry of outsiders was blamed for creating problems in the college, and ID cards on the campus were made mandatory. It was also decided to close the gates at 6 pm sharp.

The police filed three complaints stemming from violent fights on campus. One case was filed in response to the assault on SFI leader Abdul Nassar, the second in response to a complaint made by the student wing of the Indian National Congress (Kerala Students Union) KSU’s Amal Tomy, and the third by a doctor from the general hospital for obstructing his duties.

Fourteen students were charged with assaulting the SFI leader, while 35 have been charged with involvement in the SFI, KSU, and Fraternity dispute.

The Fraternity Movement is a growing student organization, especially in West Bengal, Kerala and Delhi. It is directly linked to the Welfare Party of India (WPI). The extremist Jamaat-e-Islami launched WPI as a political front for the organisation.

In 2017, SFI won 13 of the college’s 14 seats. SFI lost one seat, that of the representative of the third-year degree class won by the Fraternity Movement candidate, Ishaq Ibrahim.

Back then, the Fraternity had started operations at Maharaja College only three months ago. But before this, their unit at Maharaja’s College operated as the Inquilab Students Movement (ISM).

Fuad Muhammad, president of the Fraternity Movement unit in Maharaja’s, denied that theirs was a religion-centric party. He claimed the party’s ideological position was “secularism, religious plurality and social democracy.”

SFI district president V M Junaid said the Fraternity had not eaten into their vote share but instead had taken KSU’s share. The Fraternity Movement is affiliated with Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, which already has a student body, the Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO). Junaid alleged they are not functioning under the moniker SIO to conceal their religious inclinations.

SFI leader Abhimanyu (20), a BSc Chemistry student of Maharaja’s College, was stabbed to death at midnight on 2 July 2018. He was killed amidst shouts of ‘Bismillah’ by activists of the now-banned Popular Front of India, its student organisation Campus Front of India (CFI), and its political outfit SDPI.

As per the chargesheet, Sahal Hamsa (23), a PFI worker hailing from Nettoor, Kochi, had stabbed Abhimanyu to death. Hamsa, who allegedly stabbed Abhimanyu’s chest and absconded after the murder, surrendered at a court in Ernakulam after two years in June 2020.

In March, eleven documents, including the 5,000-page charge sheet, post-mortem report and statements of witnesses and accused in the murder case, went missing from the court ahead of the trial and could not be traced out. That included the intimation to police from the hospital on Abhimanyu’s close friend Arjun, who was also stabbed, the casualty register and a wound certificate of Rahul K.

The police had framed charges and initiated prosecution against 16 men who were found directly involved in the murder. Investigators had found that Shahal had stabbed Abhimanyu, while another accused, Muhammed Shaheem, inflicted injuries on Abhimanyu’s friend Arjun Krishna. Shaheem surrendered before the police in November 2019.

Five years after the murder, in which the Central Home Ministry is interested due to PFI’s involvement, the trial has yet to begin.