Xavier’s College principal’s appeal was biased
Now that voting for Mumbai is done with, all those voters who were influenced by St Xavier's College Principal Frazer Mascarenhas’s call, will have done their duty. Which way they eventually voted, if they voted at all, we do not know. But Father Mascarenhas has had his 48-hour of glory on television channels and the print media for having issued an appeal to his students — an appeal which for good measure was also posted on the college's website — to “choose well” while casting their ballot. There is nothing wrong in these words, and they sound sensible enough coming from an academic who is devoted to showing his flock the right path. What became a controversy is the extent that he went to hammer home his point. Out of the blue, Father Mascarenhas plucked out Gujarat for special mention as an example to draw lessons from in terms of ‘poor human development’ indicators. He went on to ask his students: “So what lessons does a reflection on the approaching elections teach usIJ” He then offered the gem of a denouement: “The prospect of an alliance of corporate capital and communal forces coming to power constitutes a real threat to the future of our secular democracy.” The eminent college principal could not find any other example through the length and breadth of the country, including his State of Maharashtra, where capitalism and communalism together have played a demonic role. He had never spoken out in the wake of other communal and hate-attacks that have taken place in the country in recent months, including in Uttar Pradesh. His conscience was then not shaken enough to issue an appeal.
After having chosen Gujarat for special mention as a ‘failed' example, Father Mascarenhas wants the people to believe that he had no mala fide intent whatsoever and that he merely wanted to put “things in perspective” for his students. His defence that he did not name any political party for condemnation or praise is meaningless. Possibly he had an agenda and he promoted it by pretending to keep his hands clean. It would have been more honest of him to have openly come out against the Bharatiya Janata Party and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. It does not behove a renowned academic to play games. Besides, if he believes that his students and the voting people have enough wisdom to make the right choice, why then did he feel the necessity to issue the appealIJ His action has left one wondering whether Father Mascarenhas's appeal represented his point of view or that of the Catholic Church which manages the college. Whatever, it is highly inappropriate of an academic to influence his students' voting choice. Surely, this did not form part of the study curriculum in the college! If the principal had been so keen to create political awareness among his students, he ought to have invited representatives of prominent political parties to debate the issue in the midst of his students and left it on the students to take a final call.