Valson Thampu hits back at Guha, says he attacked college every time a progressive move was made

Outgoing pirncipal of St. Stephen's college Valsan Thampu has hit out at historian Ramchandra Guha and said he would attack the college every time a progressive move was made. Speaking exclusively to CNN-IBN's Bhupendra Chaubey, Thampu added, "Ramchandra Guha is not the whole of the alumni of the college. The people who are making noise in the public space are a laughably small segment."

A war of words broke after Guha called Thampu a 'fascist'. "We have all come together to pay tribute to Rohtas and we were not allowed to enter because there is a fascist who is scared that Rohtas is more popular than him," Guha had said.

Here's an excerpt from the interview:

CNN-IBN: You are someone sir who is a Principal of arguably one of the best education institutes of the country which has a very rich legacy of its alumni and you seem to be at complete loggerheads with a major segment of that alumni itself.

Valson Thampu: This is not the truth.

CNN-IBN: When Ramchandra Guha calls you a fascist.

Valson Thampu: Ramchandra Guha is not the whole of the alumni of the college. The people who are making noise in the public space are a laughably small segment.

CNN-IBN: Your argument, your disagreements with Ramchandra Guha, who happens to be a historian of some repute across the country but you describe him as a pretentious historian and a trespasser.

Valson Thampu: I am just describing facts. Who is an historian? A historian is one who tries to be faithful to facts. Now this gentleman within a week of my assuming office in 2007 wrote an article that now we can now dig a grave and the college can be pushed into it, because under Thampu it is going to collapse.

CNN-IBN: But why did he do that, what was the personal bias he had against you?

Valson Thampu: It was not a personal bias it was an ideological bias because by then it was known that I was bringing social justice into higher education and the nightmare for people of priviledge is social justice because the protected bastion of the rich and priviledged will shrink.

CNN-IBN: But Ramchandra Guha is an individual who stands for the rights of the poor and the underprivileged?

Valson Thampu: I have not seen Ramchandra Guha do this in St Stephen's College, you see people do all kinds of drama in public space. I have watched him, I have known him in college and I have watched him very closely in the last eight years. Every time a progressive move was taken he would come out of his hiding and attack the college. This is precisely the hypocrisy of the society that comes and stares you in the face.

CNN-IBN: Is this the hypocrisy of your own alumni because your alumni are individuals in this society, from Shashi Tharoor, Swapan Dasgupta to who's who of this country?

Valson Thampu: I would say that anybody who promotes, supports, encourages dishonesty is a shame to St Stephen's college, absolute shame to this college.

CNN-IBN: And in that logic you believe that Ramchandra Guha would qualify as the ultimate symbol of that shame and embarrassment to this college?

Valson Thampu: I don't hand it to anybody that sense of importance. If somebody is a thief he is a thief whether he is a Ramchandra Guha, whether he is Valson Thampu.