[Reader-list] Xavier's principal takes on Sena and his own student (Rohinton Mistry's book banning row)

[TaraPrakash]

Well appeasement is part of Indian politics and universities are just part 
of it. We have to ban the sale of books like Satanic Verses and Lajja let 
alone include them in any syllabus.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Patrice Riemens" <patrice at xs4all.nl>
To: <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 2010 3:18 AM
Subject: [Reader-list] Xavier's principal takes on Sena and his own student 
(Rohinton Mistry's book banning row)


> Bwo Goanet/ Robert Dsouza
>
>
> http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=15&contentid=20101010201010100933117653add10bf
>
> Xavier's principal takes on Sena and his own student
>
> Just a week after Mumbai Mirror reported how Rohinton Mistry's
> Booker-nominated novel Such a Long Journey was dropped from Mumbai
> University's curriculum following pressure from Shiv Sena leader Aditya
> Thackeray, the budding Sena leader's own college has struck a defiant 
> note,
> questioning the rationale of banning a work of literature "merely because 
> it
> dares to critique us."
>
> In a notice put on St. Xavier's college's web site, principal Dr Frazer
> Mascarenhas S J has expressed his displeasure at Mumbai University's
> decision to withdraw a book just because it carries a few passages 
> critical
> of Sena's violent ways.
>
>   Dr Frazer Mascarenhas
>
> Not mincing words, the notice says that while the book does reflect
> critically on political parties of all hues and in particular deplores the
> threats of violence unleashed in the 1970s by a particular party, "it is
> inconceivable that in the 21st century, a political outfit will not show 
> the
> maturity to accept criticism and answer it by the evidence of its own
> actions."
>
> The notice adds that the management, staff and students of the college 
> read
> with consternation Mumbai Mirror's October 2 report on the "emergency
> withdrawal" of Rohinton's book by the university.
>
> "The book in question has not evoked any controversy in civil society and 
> is
> considered an example of excellent literature, recounting life as lived by
> the common men and women of our time," the notice says.
>
> Mistry, whose book has been translated into German, Swedish, Norwegian and
> Danish and has won several awards, is an alumnus of St Xavier?s college,
> where Aditya Thackeray is a final-year student of history.
>
> Thackeray, who is likely to be launched as leader of the Sena?s youth wing
> at the party?s Dussera rally later this month, had asked the party's
> students wing, Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena, to launch a protest against the
> book.
>
> While he himself did not participate in the agitation, BVS burnt copies of
> the novel and petitioned Mumbai University's vice-chancellor Dr Rajan
> Welukar to drop it from the second-year syllabus.
>
> The very next day the university bowed down to this demand and issued
> notices to all colleges dropping the novel from the syllabus, regardless 
> of
> the fact that it was mid-term, and papers for the first semester were
> already set.
>
>   Aditya Thackeray
>
> A Xavier's teacher, who did not wish to be identified, said he was 
> surprised
> that the book was withdrawn by the university without any debate. "It was
> like some sort of emergency that had been created. All groups do have a
> right to debate, but what were the compelling circumstances for the book 
> to
> be withdrawn like this," he asked.
>
> Another teacher from a renowned college in south Mumbai said the
> university's decision to withdraw the book smacked of a lack of conviction
> on the part of the university.
>
> "The book was on the syllabus for four years. Before a book is included in
> the syllabus, there is a thorough procedure that is followed. How can you
> suddenly withdraw it because a political party so demands," he said.
>
> Such A Long Journey, set in the backdrop of the events of 1971, chronicles
> the story of Gustad Noble, a Byculla-born Parsi, and his personal struggle
> with what is right and wrong.
>
> The superbly evocative book has been routinely listed as one of the best
> books on Bombay/Mumbai along with Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children.
>
> Aditya Thackeray did not respond to repeated calls from this reporter.
> Messages left on his cellphone too went unanswered.
>
> *MLA's stinker to Welukar*
>
> In a strongly worded letter to Mumbai University Vice-Chancellor Rajan
> Welukar, Awhad said, "You have shown the courage of withdrawing a book 
> from
> the syllabus on the pretext of obscenity in it. I cannot praise you enough
> as each time the son of a political leader does not like a particular 
> book,
> you will ban it."
>
> The letter also suggested that Welukar should hold a seminar at a 
> five-star
> hotel where he can summon the sons of biggies and have a discussion on the
> books in the syllabus. "This means you will not have to remove any book 
> from
> the syllabus and it will save you the trouble of pleasing a big man's 
> son,"
> the letter added.
>
>
>
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