Thampu not done with e-zine

NEW DELHI: St Stephen’s College principal Valson Thampu has written yet another withering letter to the alumni, this time reflecting on the “the brighter side of the story”—of an e-mag published without his consent, the protests thereof, suspension of the co-founder and the court case. Thampu feels that from all the stink, “something very positive” has emerged.
He feels that his college is an easy target because it is “a community of ladies and gentlemen—a garden of pacifism where violence is abjured as a matter of cultural creed”. Next, he writes that an attack on St Stephen’s is also the easiest way to get noticed. “Whatever happens here is sure to attract disproportionate media attention. It becomes national news. So those who have nothing to say for themselves, who have frittered their lives away in mediocre inanities, but covet a toehold in the limelight, find St Stephen’s the most alluring object of attack,” he says and, drawing an uncomfortable parallel, adds, “Like, if you want to get into history, better kill Gandhi than a man in the street. The latter will only get you into jail.” But he takes this as an “indirect tribute to the incomparable worth of the college” and a “grudging acknowledgement that the present principal is not an easy pushover.”
The third point is all about Thampu himself. He is targeted, he believes, for his “uniqueness”. “I am different…The presence of a man who cannot be bought with money disturbs. I was offered a post-retirement placement of Rs 50 lakh a year by someone who is currently breathing fire and brimstone against me because I refused to be bought up,” he writes, referring, once again, to instances where, apparently, he had to displease the rich and the powerful.
The alumni—the Association of Old Stephanians—has already denounced Thampu’s previous letter calling it “derogatory and contemptuous”—this time it has been dismissed as “infantile”.
Finally, Thampu treats every issue that’s been reported of from St Stephen’s as minor. “Something very routine and simple is done. It is immediately turned into a horrendous offence. Faculty appointments are done, following due procedure. A stink is raised. The discipline of the college is maintained. Five crybabies span out into the public, beating their breasts like cosmic drums,” he says. And from the “disproportionate” attention to the “routine”, he concludes that “there are no real issues”. “This is the most authentic witness to the whole country that it is impossible to find fault with St Stephen’s,” he concludes.