St Stephens College row: Dear Thampu, bans don't work, encourage free speech

I remember how it used to play out. As soon as bits of information and gossip would filter in, a small group of students would sneak out of the "Residence" (known as "hostel" in other colleges) to Kamla Nagar ("K Nags" in Delhi University parlance), and use an old and battered Remington typewriter (pre-computer days) at a "typing coaching centre", to churn out the latest gossip in the unsigned college rag - "Spice".

Money would be pooled in to photocopy the college gossip magazine and the challenge would be then to leave the pages at the "Dhaba", the "Café" (other colleges had "canteen"), the main corridor and the JCR (Junior Common Room) undetected. Those who found the "news" in "Spice" interesting would then have the onus on them to get it photocopied and keep it in circulation till the next edition came out. 

There was no one editor and no one editorial team behind it. It was a collaborative effort, a secret one, and several "budding journalists" were behind it.

When I started writing for The Indian Express in 1993, in my final year at the St Stephen’s College, our principal, the late Dr Anil Wilson would often invite me over for a cup of coffee in his office after the morning assembly. "Tiwariji" (his office assistant) used to find me at the Dhaba, where we usually spent more time than in classes, and say, "Chaliye bula rahe hain (Come, you have been summoned)".

For an undergraduate student to be invited to the principal’s office for a cup of coffee was indeed an honour. Usually, classmates were summoned for a dressing down. Dr Wilson would bring out The Indian Express and discuss my piece. He gave me his objective opinion – good or bad, appreciative or otherwise. But he never told me what to write and never asked to see what I was writing. And he never stopped me from writing. In fact, he always encouraged me to write more.

In one such conversation, he once jokingly asked, how much did I contribute to "Spice", or even "Kooler Talk", the college magazine? With a straight face I denied having any knowledge of even knowing existence of "Spice". He smiled, pulled out a couple of pages and asked for some clarifications. Since the magazine collected good-natured gossip, and even though he had a fair idea about who all were responsible for it, he chose to look the other way.

Here, perhaps, is a lesson for the current principal of St Stephen’s College, Reverend Valson Thampu. His order banning the e-zine (online magazine) because the students did not wait for his clearance is uncalled for.

St Stephen’s College is known for encouraging students to think, speak and write freely. Rev Thampu can lay out broad outlines, editorial policy and guidelines, but micro managing the e-zine will either result in students second guessing or delaying the release of the magazine till he has time to clear every page. And as the principal of the country’s premier educational institution for undergraduate and post graduate students, he surely has bigger things on his plate than just a college magazine.

At 18, students are old enough to vote, elect a government, drive an automobile; they should be well within their rights to write what they feel. At best the college can have a disclaimer saying this is not the official view point of the St Stephen’s College.

Dr Wilson often did not agree with my point of view, but he never stopped me from writing for The Indian Express. On the other hand, he discussed how more balanced and different viewpoints could be accommodated. When he saw the changes in subsequent articles, he would often then discuss other issues, including one which had the college and the Delhi University tied in a knot over admission forms. 

My news report had both his and then vice-chancellor professor VR Mehta’s points of views, and even though I was a proud Stephanian, he said he was proud that I did not favour the college in my "balanced" article.

Dr Thampu, instead of clamping down, should actually encourage student-journalists to write more. He should only insist on balanced and fair play. Ad Dei Gloriam.

The writer was at The St Stephen’s College from 1991-94 BA (Hons) History and 1994-96 (MA History).