Several alumni of the prestigious St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, have written an open letter addressing the principal of the College, opposing the administration’s decision to invite Yuva Sena chief, Aditya Thackeray, for its 150-year celebrations. The celebrations are set to begin on Thursday, 4 October.
The letter, read and accessed by The Quint, opens with,
The letter further states that in 2010, Thackeray had led a campaign against the inclusion of Rohinton Mistry’s Booker Prize-nominated novel Such a Long Journey in the syllabus of Mumbai University — simply because it reportedly portrayed the Shiv Sena in a “negative light.”
However, Thackeray, who was an undergraduate in History at St Xavier’s College at the time, hadn’t even read the book in question.
The authors of the letter also referred to another one put forth by Principal Fr Frazer Mascarenhas, on the college notice board at the time, which said, “It is inconceivable that in the 21st century, a political party will not show the maturity to accept criticism and answer it by the evidence of its own actions.”
“St Xavier’s College regrets that this book, written by an alumnus, and widely acclaimed in the literary world, has been treated in this manner,” the letter by Father Frazer added.
Speaking about how Thackeray’s inclusion in the 150-year celebrations would be an insult to the other notable alumni of the institute, and the “unfortunate reflection” of the “ethical standing” in St Xavier’s today, the authors added,
The decision to include him in the celebrations, they said, was thus “foolish at best and outright dangerous at worst.”
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