Stephen’s council backs Thampu, says media coverage of row ‘unfair’

The Council also lashed out at the media and claimed there was a “motivated campaign” against the college by the media at the instance of some “vested interests”.

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“Media reports have the tendency to surface around the dates of hearing of court cases against the college. This shows the motive behind the same. News reports of the court proceedings involving the college are also inaccurate,” the statement read.

The Association of Old Stephanians, however, has condemned the Supreme Council for not calling a meeting on the issue earlier.

“We are not surprised by the decision of the Supreme Council. It has repeatedly turned a blind eye to the illegalities and misdemeanor of Thampu. They did not even deem it fit to call a meeting till now to issue a statement on the recent case. We have no faith in the body, and that’s why we have demanded intervention from the MHRD,” Ashish Joshi, media co-ordinator of the association, said.

Various women’s organisations also attacked Thampu’s statements at a press conference on Tuesday, where he claimed that he was being “hounded like an animal”.

“This was nothing but an attempt to mislead people into thinking that the growing criticism of his connivance with the accused in the most recent case of sexual harassment involving a PhD scholar is an attack on the minority status of the college. We find such projections and accusations highly misleading,” Maya John, convener of the Centre for Struggling Women, said.

The alumni association also claimed that Thampu had raised the “bogey of minority institution” whenever he faced criticism over an issue. “We all know that St Stephen’s is a minority institution entitled to rights under Article 30 of the Constitution. But that does not entitle the management to indulge in blatant maladministration,” it said.