Fired for being gay St Joseph’s professor slams ‘Talibanisation’ of campus

Bengaluru, Mar 11: An English professor at St Joseph’s College of Arts and Science who was sacked on Thursday for being a gay and violating the norms of the institution, has decided to start a social media campaign to promote his views.

47-year-old Ashley Tellis (Mumbai-born, Cambridge-educated scholar), who describes himself as “an academic, a gay rights activist, an aspiring feminist activist and general shit-stirrer” on his Facebook page, said that the college sacked him as he was vocal about many issues, including homosexuality.

Going into the details of what he terms 'Talibanisation of student lives' inside the campus, his personal opinions, the need for democratic education in institutions and more, some parts of his post read, "When a teacher asks students to think, to think critically...to think about the implications of this Talibanisation of student lives on the gendered futures of the society we live in, to not be intimidated by threats of being asked to take a Transfer Certificate (TC) and leave if they don't like things here, they are fired as their opinions are apparently 'disturbing' the students (sic)."

Ashley's five-month contract, which started in late November, states that while he can be fired without any reason, but not without a month's prior notice, no such notice was handed to him. So, are there legal implications? "Of course there are legal implications, and I will take that path not necessarily for monetary gains, but only because it affects the rights of students to a democratic education and the right of teachers to have a personal opinion. So far, they haven't even specified exactly which of my personal opinions that has, as the Principal put it, 'very much disturbed' the students."

Ashley does believe that apart from encouraging students to not taking the practises of the college lying down, his sexual orientation and his opinions on it are also reasons that he has gotten the sack, much like actor Manoj Bajpai's character Prof. Dr Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras in the film Aligarh . "To give you an idea how homophobic the educational group is, before this job, I had gotten a job offer at St Joseph's College of Commerce (part of the same group of institutions), only for it to be rescinded because a faculty had shown the principal an article that stated that I was gay." While SJCC authorities did not confirm if Ashley had applied for a job, they stated that no one by that name was invited for an interview.

"I got a call at 9.30am in the middle of a class, asking me to come to the principal's office. When I reached there, I was told by the principal that I was sharing my personal opinion with the students, and this was disturbing them. I was then told to leave the college premises immediately. They refused to specify what personal opinions they were referring to. Under my contract, I am supposed to be given a month's notice before being sacked, something the institution didn't follow," Tellis said.

"I am sure students will testify to enjoying my classes. It is possible that I was sacked because students felt comfortable about airing their opinions in my class, many of which were against some of the harsher rules prescribed by the college such as boys and girls not being allowed to share earphones or hug; boys not being allowed to wear ear-studs; girls disallowed to colour their hair or wear clothes like leggings," he maintained.

When the news of Ashley's sacking first broke out, the college stated that Ashley had been terminated based on 'complaints lodged by disturbed students' and that his sacking had 'nothing to do with his sexual orientation.' While they still maintain the same, they have added that Ashley did not conform to the Bangalore Jesuit Society's Service rules, according to Prof. Kiran Jeevan, PRO of the institution.

While Ashley says he is hopeful that something positive will come out this entire episode, he cannot ignore the irony of it all. "I have been fired for influencing students with my personal opinion, while the Principal has been enforcing his own on the students all along," he says.