St Stephens,they say,is in the news for the bad reasons. It has been so for nearly four years. This in itself is amazing. But what is even more amazing is that no one bothers to find out why it is so. Apparently people are expected to believe that there is something wrong with the college,simply because it is nudged into the news.
I have been pleading repeatedly with the detractors of the college to provide the markers of the communalism they impute to it. Here is the charge-sheet that I have been able to piece together from the sporadic allegations made so far.
(a) The college admits Christian students on priority. As a minority educational institution,St. Stephens has the right to admit students preferentially from the minority community concerned. This is settled in law. It is another matter if availing oneself of legal and constitutional provisions is deemed to be communal. At any rate,if any communalism is suspected in this respect,lawful and dignified remedies are available. The courts in the country can settle this matter justly.
(b)That St Stephens appoints Christian teachers. As of now only less than 10 per cent of the teaching faculty,counting the principal,is Christian. Legally,a minority management can appoint candidates who meet the minimum eligibility requirements prescribed by the regulatory authority. The college has never invoked this provision. Instead,it has always gone by sheer merit,virtually wiping out Christian presence in the faculty footprint of the institution. Among the 25 faculty appointments made last year,for example,only one Christian has been appointed in a permanent position and two against temporary positions.
(c)That Christian worship is happening in college. The college has always had a chapel at the centre of its campus. This is because of the deep faith that underlies the founding of the college. The educational vision of St Stephens is that God is the ground of our being and that the inspiration to attain excellence combined with greatness comes only from godliness (as opposed to narrow religiosity,which the college shuns.) While laying the foundation stone of the academic block of the college in 1939,C.F. Andrews read out the following verse from the Bible. Unless the Lord builds the house the workers labour in vain/ Unless the Lord guards the city,the watchman keeps vigil in vain. Godliness,which transcends all religious divides,is the rock on which the college is founded.
What we are witnessing today is the browbeating of spirituality with pseudo-secularism,which is nothing but communalism by other means. It takes a virulently communal mind to label minority rights as communal.
The three charges listed above fall within the ambits of Article 30(1) and Article 25 (right to worship),both of which enshrine fundamental rights. The Constitution of India does not drive a wedge between religious freedom and the educational rights conferred on minorities.
Indeed,Article 30(1) is meant to help religious and linguistic minorities to conserve their religion and script; for religious and linguistic homogenisation will blot out secularism and degrade democracy into fascism. Legally,it is incumbent on institutions under the canopy of Article 30(1) to preserve their religious identity.
When the minority status of St Stephens was debated in the Delhi high court and the Supreme Court of India in the 80s and 90s,the honourable courts attached special significance to,among other things: (a) the name of the college,which is outright Christian (b) a cross standing on the dome of the academic block (c) the church-affiliation of the college written into its constitution the bishop of Delhi being ex-officio the chairman of the governing body and the supreme council (d) the unique structure of governance (having a supreme council mandated to oversee the Christian character of the college and to appoint the principal) (e) instructions in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ being imparted in college and (f) the existence of a chapel at the centre of the campus. The motto of the college,lest we forget,is Ad Dei Gloriam (to the glory of God). It is a significant pointer to the ideological and attitudinal degradation that is undermining our society that these very markers of the special identity of the college,sanctified under the recognition of the honble apex court,are today criminalised as communalism.
Mercifully,this is the first time that St Stephens College affectionately referred to as the College by thousands of her grateful academic progeny is being branded as communal.
I am deeply touched by the expressions of solidarity with the college received from all over the country. The silver lining on the present scenario is that the enduring bedrock of loyalty that Stephanians have for their alma mater is now visible as never before. The mark of a great institution is that pricks and kicks only renew and invigorate it towards greater robustness.
The author is principal,St Stephens College,Delhi,and a member of the National Integration Council
