NEW DELHI: Two weeks after a Supreme Court lawyer had claimed that St Stephen's College had cancelled an invite to him, following which the students and teachers were reportedly trolled and criticised on social media, the staff association of the college on Wednesday resolved that the matter should be formally brought to the attention of the minority commission as well as the women's commission.
The staff association had held its meeting to discuss the trolling of junior and senior members of the college's Gender Studies Cell on Twitter, and the related publication of an article with derogatory references to the same members.
The staff association claimed that the Twitter posts and the newspaper article are patently part of a communal campaign against the college. It further observed that the college and its associated spaces cannot, should not and must not be used for propagating communal and misogynistic agendas of the kind reflected on these platforms, especially in light of the extreme sensitivity to these issues in the current political climate.
One of the association members said, "We also observed that the college is proud of its long-standing secular credentials, and categorically rejected any allegation or imputation of 'Hinduphobia' on the college premises or by it as baseless, mischievous and patently false."
It was on March 3, when SC lawyer J Sai Deepak tweeted that he was supposed to speak at an interactive session at St Stephen's Leadership Conclave between February 24 and 27. However, hours before the event, his invitation was cancelled following opposition from the students of the Gender Studies Cell.
He further said, "I received a call from students of the Leadership Cell a few hours before the event that some students had objected to me being invited. I was informed that I would get a mail citing logistical reasons for the cancellation of the event, which I am yet to get." The Gender Studies Cell had issued a statement where they termed Deepak an 'Islamophobe' for his views on the hijab row.
Lawyer's tweet
On March 3, SC lawyer J Sai Deepak had tweeted that he was supposed to speak at St Stephen's College's Leadership Conclave. Hours before the event, his invitation was cancelled following opposition from the students.