In a blatant abuse of power that should have UGC regulators scrambling for penalties, the owner/chancellor of Sathyabama Institute of Science and technology — a deemed university funded indirectly by taxpayer benefits and student fees — openly turned a campus event into a political rally for actor Vijay’s fledgling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), flaunting the party’s “whistle” symbol and urging students to support it. 


Captive audiences of young voters were subjected to overt political indoctrination on an educational stage that is supposed to remain strictly apolitical. And why now? Pure vendetta: the institution’s founding family is seething after the DMK government lawfully reclaimed nearly ₹ 2,000 crores worth of prime land they had illegally encroached upon for decades. 


Unable to fight the government in court or on the streets, they’ve chosen to weaponise their control over thousands of students instead. UGC guidelines explicitly prohibit using university platforms for partisan politics, yet the regulator remains conspicuously silent — raising the ugly question: will they finally act and strip Sathyabama of its deemed status, or will their inaction green-light every rich, frustrated institution owner to turn campuses into private political fiefdoms?


  1. Open, shameless political advertising on the academic stage — The owner didn’t whisper support; he paraded TVK symbols, praised Vijay, and pushed the “whistle” agenda in front of hundreds of students who had no real choice but to attend. This isn’t “freedom of expression” — it’s abuse of institutional authority.



  2. Direct violation of UGC regulations — UGC’s 2019 and earlier circulars clearly state that universities must not allow political parties to use campus facilities for propaganda. Deemed universities like Sathyabama enjoy special status and autonomy only on the condition that they remain apolitical. This stunt spits directly in UGC’s face.



  3. Students turned into captive political audience — Young voters, dependent on the institution for degrees and careers, were forced to sit through partisan messaging. That’s not education; that’s coercion disguised as a college event.



  4. Root cause: ₹2000 crore land humiliation — The DMK government reclaimed vast tracts of government land illegally occupied by the Jeppiaar family trusts for decades. Unable to swallow the legal defeat, the owner is now exacting revenge by politicising the very institution built on that disputed foundation.



  5. UGC’s deafening silence is complicity — If UGC lets this slide, every private university owner with political ambitions or grudges will feel emboldened to turn convocation halls into campaign venues. Will they issue show-cause notices, impose fines, or revoke deemed status? Or just shrug?



  6. Deemed university status is a privilege, not a licence for vendetta — Taxpayers and students subsidise these institutions through fee structures and indirect benefits. In return, they’re supposed to get neutral education, not be conscripted into an owner’s personal political battles.



  7. Precedent already exists for punishment — UGC and courts have penalised institutions for lesser infractions — hosting controversial speakers, allowing student violence, and financial irregularities. Overt party promotion is far graver, yet the regulator is missing in action.



  8. TVK gets free propaganda, students get indoctrination — Vijay’s party, still building grassroots, just scored thousands of impressionable young minds for free — courtesy of an institution that should be politically sterile. That’s not organic support; that’s manufactured using institutional muscle.



  9. If UGC stays silent, it’s sending a dangerous signal — Every land-grabbing, politically ambitious education baron will now know: lose your illegal empire, just hijack your students’ future to settle scores. Academic freedom dies when owners treat universities as personal revenge tools.



  10. Time for UGC to grow a spine — Issue a public warning, demand explanation, threaten status revocation, and make an example of Sathyabama. Or admit that deemed universities are now fair game for any owner with a political axe to grind. parents and students are watching — and they won’t forget which side the regulator chose.
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Sathyabama

SIBY JEYYA

07/02/2026 10:59 AM