Condolence meet of St Stephen’s Dhaba owner: Stopped at college gate by guards on Thampu’s orders, allege alumni

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The meeting was scheduled to start at 2 pm, with alumni and students trickling in slowly. Soon after the scheduled time, an order was reportedly issued by Principal Rev Valson Thampu to “not allow anyone to enter the college”.

However, there is no word yet if such an order was issued.

Alumni were stopped by the guards, who were reportedly given instructions to not allow people to enter unless they were “visiting” some faculty members. Calls had to be made to senior teachers, who had to come to the gates to personally escort the alumni inside. The gates were finally opened after several minutes and intervention by the faculty.

Some of the alumni entered the college through other gates, while others waited on the road for the controversy to subside.

At the meet, a number of alumni talked about memories of their time in college, sharing anecdotes of the help and advice given to them by Rohtas during their student days. Some said they had especially flown to Delhi to attend the meeting.

“Apart from studies, most of us did Dhaba hons in college,” said Rajul Kulshreshtha of Xpose Media, adding that Rohtas had a “personal connection” with all students.

“He was as true blue a Stephanian as any of us. He embodied the spirit of irreverence with a sense of deep caring,” said journalist Abhay Mohan Jha.

In his condolence speech, Ramchandra Guha not only spoke of the “love and affection” shown by the deceased dhaba owner towards students, but also commented on the principal’s order of barring the gates to alumni.

“It is a sad commentary on an elite college that the principal is worried about the posthumous popularity of Rohtas. This is very very sad because this was a man who was greatly beloved by all students and the principal is paranoid about his popularity,” said Guha, who also compared Thampu to a “fascist” who “fears the popularity of another”.

Despite repeated calls and text messages, Thampu could not be reached for comment.