Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday criticised Governor Arif Mohammed Khan for walking on the streets of Kozhikode city without security.

Speaking to media persons in Kollam on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Navakerala Sadas, Vijayan said the governor violated the protocol and that a person like him should not  have done like this.

He, however, saw the flip side of the governor’s indiscretion as it proved that the law and order in Kerala is intact. “It’s good that he ate Halwa from a shop at Mittayi theruvu (SM Street) in Kozhikode city making it famous now,” he added.

The chief minister said the students protesting against him are not criminals, as claimed by the Governor. They are expressing their dissent against his actions as the chancellor, in a democratic manner.

“There protests were not uncontrollable and all the agitations against the governor had a specific reason. There is no need to interpret these in any other way. It was not criminals or goons as he said, but students who are the future of our country who are challenging his objectionable decisions as the chancellor. It is a democratic form of resistance which also reflects the distinctive spirit of Kerala,” he said.

Accusing the Centre of throwing the state into a financial crisis, he said the Union government has been withholding the state’s rightful income, impeding its development activities.

Meanwhile, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan mingled with crowds in the busy Manachira Square and SM Street in Kozhikode on Monday challenging the SFI, which declared a protest against him over the alleged saffronisation of campuses, the state government and police.

Later, he walked through famous sweetmeat (SM) Street, also known as Mittai Theruvu. He walked about 200 metres from the SK Pottakkadu statue. Reaching SM Street around 12.30 pm, the governor mingled freely with children, lifted some in his arms, kissed and blessed them like a grandfather.

He reached out to local people and traders and posed for selfies. He even went into a sweetmeat store where the storekeeper offered him a piece of the famous ‘Kozhikodan halwa’ while another trader gave him a cap.