Mumbai College principal slams Gujarat model, asks students to ‘choose well’

When approached, Mascarenhas said, “The Gujarat model is being touted and is being talked about by media and discussed in public forums.

An email by the principal of Mumbai’s prestigious St Xavier’s college at Dhobi Talao to all his students, asking them to ‘choose well’ in the Lok Sabha elections, has raised eyebrows in the academic fraternity. The article by Father Frazer Mascarenhas openly criticises the Gujarat model of governance.

Academicians and experts have criticised Mascarenhas’s move as they feel it is likely to influence student voters, which they say is “wrong on the part of an educationist”.

Mascarenhas has not just emailed the article to his students, but has also uploaded it on the college’s website. The article says: “So what lessons does a reflection on the approaching elections teach us? The prospect of an alliance of a corporate capital and communal forces coming to power constitutes a real threat to the future of our secular democracy.” He then appealed to the students to “choose well”.

Story continues below this ad

When approached, Mascarenhas said, “The Gujarat model is being touted and is being talked about by media and discussed in public forums. I just gave my students a few considerations based on that. As a teacher of development studies, it is my responsibility to show them the clear picture. Nowhere in the article have I named any political leader or party. Yes, it may influence my students, but for good, as all that I have written is based on facts. After reading and understanding these considerations, they will be able to make their own choice.”

Senior educationist and former pro vice-chancellor of Mumbai University A D Sawant said, “It comes as a shock to me that a principal as senior as Father Mascarenhas can do something like this. It is a grant-in-aid college and a principal or even a teacher cannot take a stand like this. They have to stand neutral.”