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Prof. RAJENDRA PANDIAN
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Dr. Anbudurai was desperate to get our
management staff reinstated without further delay. I admire his concern and
sense of responsibility. I also acknowledge the sacrifices he has been making
at a personal level just to resist the aggression on the college by the church.
But it is a rude shock for us that he signed the agreement under question on
the 14th evening without consulting the Governing Council to which
he is accountable; the fighting staff who he represents; or, even our Vice
Principal who was waiting outside the building to help him.
When he convened the staff meeting on
the 16th morning the members felt at least he could have asked for
time—even one day—to consult them before signing. They were also categorical
that the illegal agreement that Dr,Anbudurai signed arbitrarily and
unilaterally was condemnable and not binding on the college or any of them.
While condemning this as a blunder the meeting also urged the leadership to do
the needful to save the college from being hijacked by the Moderator and Dr.
Anbudurai responded by assuring that the sovereignty of the college would be
preserved at any cost and the American college which is not a CSI institution
will never become one.
After the meeting was over I had an opportunity to
run down the agreement in a couple of minutes. When the first article says that
this college is “a minority institution belonging to the CSI (Madurai-Ramand
Diocese)” the next one says the college will be governed according to its Constitution
and bye-laws which will be amended to cope with the changing time. I can’t
deceive myself into thinking that they will respect the constitution, as Prof.V.S
hopes.
These aggressors simply broke open the offices with
hammer and crowbar in gross violation of the constitution. That’s past. If
unchallenged, in all probability, they may soon legitimize their council as the
bona fide Governing Council of the College and will amend the constitution in a
way to realize the first article in the agreement which is nothing but their articulated
goal. The whole process may be over in a few months as they will ensure that
they have brutal majority in the council. That’s future. As Prof. VS hopes, they may pretend like
respecting the constitution for the present as they have their own Principal
and Secretary to serve their purpose—leave alone the former one.
I don’t subscribe to the argument that “The statement that The American College is a CSI college
will ensure that the College may enjoy the minority rights granted by the
Central Government,” as we have been enjoying the minority rights already. The
problems that we face time and again from the governments in renewing our
minority status and getting tax exemption can be overcome by any other means
than making it a CSI institution. The solution is worse than the problem,
Prof.V.S! After all these, saying that the Bishop should be kept at a distance
and allowed to visit the campus only twice a year is unrealistic. I think the
situation is much graver than what some of us may think. It is time for our Governing
Council—the Controlling Agency as per the constitution—to intervene at once and
do its best to save the college.
Will it convene?
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Dear Kulasekara Rajapandian: Please go slow. Ensure that ammenddments are not made in the constitution. Till then the constitution as it exista today will remain. Work with the Council mambers. Don't forget the Secretary of the College today in the JDE. He/She is the one who can draw the salary from the treasury and pay you all and not any other person.Best wishes.
ReplyDeleteIf one brouses through the internet one will find that famous colleges like Stephens College, New Delhi; Scottish Church College, Kolkatta; Wilson's College, Mumbai are listed as colleges affiliated to CNI (Churches of North India) Similarly near home the Madras Chrisitan College, Tambaram and Scot Christian College, Nagercoil are listed as colleges affiliated to CSI. I think there will be no harm if likewise the American College seeks affiliatation with CSI just as we are affiliated with Madurai Kamaraj University and assert that the Governing Council of the College with the Principal & Secretary is the Chief Administrator. It was like that for many years. Only during the period of the last two or three Principals knowingly or unknowingly their powers were surrenderdd to the Bishop which is agasainst the Constitution. Srinivasan
ReplyDeleteI wish to point out that the famous Madras Christian College,Tambaram (of which I am a proud old student) has never been a CSI College. An audacious attempt was made by the Church to grab it, a few years ago, and it was successfully thwarted by the combined and dedicated efforts of all those connected with the College- administrators, faculty,students- past and present and friends and well-wishers. It still remains independent of the Church and continues to be a premier institution of higher education.
ReplyDeleteThe less said about the CSI administered Colleges like the Scott Christian College, Nagercoil, the better. All the evils found in the Church like corruption, casteism and nepotism are found in abundant measure in them. With the unscrupulous leadership at the helm of affairs in Church, it is no wonder that institutions of higher learning under its control are neither christian in values and educational in its approach.
Knowing full well the kind of monster the church has become in recent times, as is evident from its various anti-christian and illegal activities, to say that there is nothing wrong in being affiliated to it is height of folly, to say the least.
The Founding Fathers of the American College, in their infinite wisdom and prophetic vision have willed it to be a church-related and not a church-controlled one. Their noble vision, which has guided the destinies of this College so far cannot be allowed to be twisted or tampered with in any way,