By Dr Olav Albuquerque

THE students of the Akhil Vidyarthi Parishad who stormed into the campus of the St Xavier’s College at Mapusa, banged the doors to disrupt classes, raised slogans such as “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram,” allegedly abused the college principal and management and tried to incite the students of the college to abandon their classes, have committed criminal trespass under Section 441 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and should have been booked for this and other offences.
At least three of the students who barged into the campus were not students of the college, which clearly implies they were trespassers. Hence, by not booking them for criminal trespass, according to the latest information available at the time of releasing this article, the police have allegedly gone easy on them.
Section 441 states: “Whoever enters into or upon property in possession of another with intent to commit an offence or to intimidate, insult or annoy any person in possession of such property”
Or
“….having lawfully entered into or upon such property, unlawfully remains there with intent thereby to intimidate, insult or annoy any such person or with intent to commit an offence.”
Or
“…having lawfully entered into or upon such property, remains there with the intention of taking unauthorized possession or making unauthorized use of such property and fails to withdraw from such property or its possession or use, when called upon to do so by that another person by notice in writing, duly served on him,” is said to commit criminal trespass.”
The punishment for criminal trespass is three months in jail with or without a fine of Rs500. Whether the act of storming the campus was justified or not is a separate issue. The ABVP has alleged the management of St Xavier’s College at Mapusa deliberately delayed in the formal installation of the undergraduate college students’ council. Even if this is correct, there are more peaceful methods of protest and making the college management accountable, rather than barging into the campus, banging the doors of classrooms, allegedly disrupting the on-going practicals in the chemistry laboratory and raising slogans.
“The elections of the students’ council were held on November 8, 2022. After that, for more than two months, the formal induction of the council members was not conducted. This was not in the interest of the student community since they were unable to take part in inter-collegiate activities, The elected student representatives, along with the elected general secretary and students of the college, constantly approached the principal of the college asking for the swearing-in ceremony of the council, but in vain,” according to a statement issued by the Goa spokesperson of the ABVP, Nikita Parsekar.

NO PEACEFUL METHODS?
ON the other hand, the college management said: “While the classes were in progress, ABVP members barged in, shouting slogans, trying to incite students to leave their classrooms and join them. The students, however, refused. To ensure the safety of our staff and students, the management asked them to leave and summoned the authorities,” the official statement read.
The incident sparked off a verbal duel between the Congress and the ruling BJP. “It is sad that an institution has indulged in discrimination based on religious lines and deprived the students of their rightful activities. ABVP works in the interest of the students, and is not there to do politics,” Rupesh Kamat, a BJP leader said.
“They were trying to infiltrate and promulgate law and order disturbances and probably violence. The teachers were panicky, and the entire staff was worried,” Congress MLA Carlos Ferreira claimed.
The police were seen in the photographs standing behind some of these ABVP activists, who unfurled a banner, which implies those who were responsible for maintaining law and order did nothing. The mamlatdar of Mapusa, Dashrath Gawas, a junior district level government appointee, reportedly gave five days to the management of St Xavier’s College to install the students’ council. However, it is the collector of the district who is overall in charge of maintaining law and order with the help of the superintendent of police.
The point here is that St Xavier’s College is seen as an institution which does not discriminate on grounds of religion or region. The college management is very strict in maintaining discipline in the campus but since its foundation in 1963, just two years after Goa was liberated from the Portuguese, St Xavier’s College is known for providing excellent education to all without any discrimination.
“Whether Hindu, Muslim or Catholic, nobody is given any step-motherly treatment in this college. There has never been any complaint of conversion or forcing those from the majority community or any other community to join in any prayer service conducted by the Catholic priests. The charge of the BJP leader is false,” said some students on condition of anonymity.
Significantly, soon after the Goa incident, another incident of a protest against the Shah Rukh Khan film, “Pathaan” sparked off a protest by some right-wing groups which led to an objectionable slogan being raised. The police registered an FIR against an unknown person for raising the slogan.
Just one year ago, a right-wing backed person claimed that there was a pre-existing temple within the Sancoale church, the old façade of which can be seen from the Zuari bridge. “These incidents which have taken place in our ancient church and in St Xavier’s College at Mapusa have been planned much in advance to disrupt communal harmony in Goa where Catholics, Hindus and Muslims have lived peacefully for centuries,” pointed out Fr Kenneth Teles, the parish priest of Sancoale church.

NOT NATIONALISM!
FR VICTOR FERRAO, who is a professor at Rachol seminary and holds a doctorate in the philosophy of science, told this newspaper: “We cannot accept such divisive tactics of a saffron outfit like the ABVP within college campuses. This is not nationalism. Disrupting classroom teaching and practicals in the chemistry laboratory is certainly an anti-national action where the sanctity of the classroom has been violated and the college campus is turned into a dharna ground,” he said.