Alumni slam college for invite to ex-student Aaditya Thackeray

Over a thousand former students of St Xavier's College here have lambasted the institute for inviting Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray for an event, saying it was "antithetical" to its values.

Aaditya, son of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, was present at a press conference Thursday to launch 150th anniversary celebration of the college of which he is a former student.

A petition signed by 1,029 former students of the institute said Friday that his presence was "antithetical to the principles and values espoused by St Xavier's College".

It pointed out that in 2010, Aaditya Thackeray had led a campaign against inclusion of Rohinton Mistry's Booker Prize-nominated novel "Such a Long Journey" in the Mumbai University's syllabus for its alleged negative portrayal of the Shiv Sena.

Under pressure from the Yuva Sena (the Sena's youth wing) the varsity dropped the book from the syllabus, it said.

By inviting Aaditya Thackeray for Thursday's function, "you are sending out a message that literary freedom and critical thought stand no chance against political pressure tactics," the petition said.

When contacted for his response, Fr Roy Pereira, vice principal of the college who is in charge of the 150th anniversary celebration, defended the invitation to Thackeray.

The alumni invited for the press conference represented a "broad spectrum of Xavierites from various areas", he said.

"All of them may have different personal ideologies, but Xavier's has always been open to diversity. Xavier's stands for inclusion of all viewpoints," he said.