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,
We, the alumni of St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, stand firmly against the invitation given to Aditya Thackeray as a ‘notable alumni’ for the Press Conference to launch the 150 years celebration of the institution on 4 October, 2018. We believe his presence is antithetical to the principles and values espoused by St Xavier’s College.
Thackeray Opposed Book Criticizing Shiv Sena
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.
He even admitted so later, which led Mistry, an alumnus himself to say that Thackeray was about to “embark down the Sena’s well-trodden path, to appeal, like those before him, to all that is worst in human nature.”
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,
“In enabling him, you are sending out a message that literary freedom and critical thought stand no chance against political pressure tactics.”
The decision to include him in the celebrations, they said, was thus “foolish at best and outright dangerous at worst.”
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