29 Jun, 2007
http://timesofindia
.indiatimes. com/For_Christs_Sake/articleshow
/2159088.cms
Flashback to 1981. I had just assumed charge
as the chaplain of St Stephen's College. I opened
the chapel of the college to the Christian karamcharis
once a week for prayer.
Within days the then principal, William Shaw
Rajpal, summoned me to his office. He expressed
concern, bordering on displeasure, that the
step could undermine the traditions of St Stephen's.
St Stephen's, he said, was a family, and karamcharis
were not part of that family. I submitted that
"for true vision of St Stephen's to be
honoured, some aspects of its tradition may
have to be broken". He came around to my
view later.
I recall this episode for the sake of those,
like Ramachandra Guha, Swapan Dasgupta and Chandan
Mitra, who feel that the traditions of St Stephen's
will be undermined by the new admission guidelines.
St Stephen's College walks on two legs. The
first is the vision of the founding fathers
which underlies the inception of the college.
The second is 'tradition', or the evolution
of that vision over the last 125 years.
The founding fathers stated their vision by
calling it a "mission college". The
purpose of "mission" is not to convert
but to empower.
Empowerment is contextual.
In 1881, when the college was founded, the people
of India had to be empowered through education,
because we were a subject race. It was this
strand that produced a C F Andrews, who thought
it best to uphold the college tradition by standing
on the side of the oppressed against the oppressors.
If Deenabandhu Andrews were alive today, he
would have been appalled by the college as a
hot 'brand name' accessible only to the economic
and social elite.
Academic excellence in St Stephen's in recent
decades has almost become a smokescreen for
masking the privileges of the socio- economic
elite. Vis-a-vis St Stephen's, 'merit', for
those who are clamouring about it, is anything
but 'academic excellence'.
I have not had a single phone call or letter
request has been couched in considerations other
than 'academic excellence'.
The best we can do to bolster academic excellence
is to preserve transparency in admissions.
There is, then, this accusation about Christianising
the college, which brings me to the debate on
the authentic St Stephen's 'tradition'.
There wasn't the slightest uncertainty or embarrassment
in the minds of the founding fathers, or their
illustrious successors like Deenabandhu, that
the college was to have a "Christian foundation".
The motto of the college is, 'Ad dei Gloriam',
or 'for the greater glory of God'. The college
prayer talks about preparing students for 'citizenship
alike in heaven and earth'. The vision of education
that under-lies the greatness of St Stephen's
is committed to 'sound religion' and 'character
building'.
Promoting a social conscience is integral to
the tradition of St Stephen's. The college had
endowed, a long time ago, 150 freeships, sizarships
and scholarships. The idea was to enable the
poor and under- privileged to come to the college
and benefit from the opportunities it offered.
There are now hardly any takers for these forms
of financial assistance as the poor have been,
de facto, banished from the college precincts.
In 1983, President Zia-ul-Haq, then President
of Pakistan, visited St Stephen's. He had read
history in college during 1940-42. As part of
his itinerary, he visited the chapel of St Stephen's.
I received him into the chapel and presented
him with a copy of the Bible. He received it
with great respect and said, "I used to
read the Gospel at the chapel services in those
days. But even then I was a good Muslim".
Non-Christian students who attended chapel prayers
have not been converted.
The neurotic anxiety that if the spiritual essence
of St Stephen's is preserved the college will
be communalised and 'souls will be harvested'
is a ludicrous piece of prejudice.The writer
is principal, St Stephen's College.
