Kerala University VC Met with Silence After Asking Students to Deny Being 'Cockroaches'

New Delhi: Kerala University vice chancellor Mohanan Kunnummal faced embarrassment at a felicitation event for top-scoring students who passed the 10th and 12th standard board examinations, when the crowd barely responded as he asked them to shout that they aren't "cockroaches" in an apparent reference to the recent developments surrounding youth movement following CJI Surya Kant's remarks.

Speaking to the gathering, the VC told the students: "Shout out loud that you are not cockroaches." The hall stayed mostly quiet, so he tried again: "Those who say they are not cockroaches, say it firmly. Anyone who believes they are neither 'paatta' (cockroach) nor cockroach, say it firmly. I have a doubt whether you still are... Everyone together say no."

Even with hundreds of students in the room, barely one or two voices answered back.

Faced with the silence, Kunnummal asked them, "Didn't you have lunch? Didn't you get tea?"

He then picked up his speech again, telling the students they were the "mighty lions and Durgas of the nation" and urging them to choose courses that actually interested them instead of giving in to pressure from others.

He asked students to keep excelling at their studies adding that people calling them names would eventually disappear like mayflies.

This isn't the first time Kunnummal has made headlines recently. He was also in the news after appearing as keynote speaker at Sankalp 2026, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-organised (RSS-organised) event in Thiruvananthapuram, where his comments criticising those opposed to Vande Mataram and his remarks on the state's Public Service Commission exam system had already stirred up plenty of attention.

“In India, the mother is of paramount importance; hence, we refer to India as ‘Bharat Mata’ (Mother India). That is why we pray by saying Vande Mataram. Those who oppose saying Vande Mataram are people who don’t know who the mother is. Those who know who the mother is and understand what a mother means will always say Vande Mataram,” he had said.

In the official Independence Day function on Saturday, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Kerala skipped Vande Mataram defying the Union government’s directive to sing the full six-stanza version of the national song.

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