By: The Wire Staff Published in: The Wire Date: November 5, 2026 Source: https://thewire.in/education/keralas-st-thomas-college-cancels-lecture-caravan-editor-vinod-k-jose 'I know many people have gone through such experiences often in the times we live in, but the first is always sweet, when you feel your presence itself is de-settling for a certain audience,' Vinod K. Jose has said.
*New Delhi:* One of the oldest and premier educational institutions of Kerala, St. Thomas College, has cancelled its annual memorial lecture in which it had invited former editor of *The* *Caravan* magazine and the founder and director of the Wayanad Literature Festival Vinod K. Jose, to speak on ‘The State of Indian Democracy.’ On Tuesday, February 3, Jose announced in a social media post <https://www.facebook.com/vinod.k.jose/posts/i-received-my-first-disinvitation-today-i-know-many-people-have-gone-through-suc/10161787316796557/> that his invitation to deliver the keynote speech in the annual T.C. Thomas Endowment Lecture – named after a former faculty member – was cancelled by the authorities of the St. Thomas college in Pala. He received a message from another speaker at the event saying that the college authorities believed that he was a “controversial figure”. “I was invited to speak on ‘The State of Indian Democracy.’ Funnily enough, with the disinvitation – and the relief of not having to travel to Pala – the lecture has already been delivered, without me uttering a word. The state of Indian democracy stands explained,” Jose wrote. “I received my first disinvitation today. I know many people have gone through such experiences often in the times we live in, but the first is always sweet, when you feel your presence itself is de-settling for a certain audience,” Jose said. Speaking with *The Wire,* Jose said that he had received the invitation around two months ago from the department of political science. The college also gave him the liberty to pick a date according to his convenience. Finally, the event was scheduled on February 5, 2026. Jose said that he was informed about his disinvitation by a co-speaker at the event on February 3, 2026. “The political science department had asked me to choose my own topic for the keynote address. I suggested two topics – one, the global decline of democracy, and the other being the state of Indian democracy. The second was selected by the department as apt for the address,” Jose told *The Wire. * “One of the co-speakers whom I knew informed me about the college’s decision to disinvite me. He said that the management and the principal did not want me in the college, as I am a “controversial figure.” “He was very apologetic about the college’s decision,” Jose said. In his social media post, Jose attributed such silencing of independent and intellectual voices in campuses as part of the “RSS-BJP’s line” to block important conversations with a larger goal to “get a foothold in Kerala”. Jose said that a section of Christian society in Kerala are “tiptoeing” the RSS’s line. “St Thomas Pala is a Catholic diocese-managed college. These are interesting times we live in. If not all, at least a section of the Christian society in Kerala are tiptoeing the RSS-BJP line of blocking relevant, transparent conversations at the least, and at its maximum, working to help the Hindu right get a foothold in Kerala,” Jose said. “A recurring complaint I hear from the management of Christian educational institutions these days is that the quality of their students is declining. But the question is also about the quality these colleges offer their students. When a management decides to censor ideas and experiences that students should be exposed to—an integral part of social science education—why then complain about quality? We shall be rearing eggs in the name of St Thomas, as opposed to the martyr that he was of ideas,” he went on to add. Last October, St.Thomas College’s 75th anniversary celebrations had garnered state-wide attention as its closing ceremony was inaugurated by President of India Droupadi Murmu. Sources familiar with the management in the college told *The Wire* that the presence of Jose, widely known for his critical views, in the college was viewed by the college authorities as something that could jeopardise the institution’s international donations, given the fact that the Narendra Modi government has set a new high in cancelling FCRA (Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010) licences over the last 11 years. *The Wire*’s reached out to Sibi James, principal of St. Thomas College, but did not get response. The story will be updated with the College’s response if and when it comes.
