"A section of the press/media has chosen to selectively interpret and report the communication of the principal and I am deeply saddened by the divisive, mischievous and irresponsible nature of such media reports," said a communication by the principal on the college website.

 

Satyam Jha, 18, a first year student of St Stephen's, died due to Covid at a private hospital in Kota, Rajasthan, on Tuesday.

 

"A young man looking forward to life, expectantly," Jha was remembered by college principal Varghese in a heartfelt note on the college website.

 

"The claims of belligerent and blind leaders who are immune to the suffering and deaths of simple people also show that we are veering off dangerously to becoming a cruel and insensitive race. How do all those claims of power and importance matter before the death of a loved one? Nothing," he wrote.

 

"We will not live forever. No, no one us is eternal but if we can pass on the wisdom of our collective experiences then perhaps there is a possibility of redemption from the curse of arrogance," Varghese said in the note.

 

Thereafter came the clarification on "irresponsible reporting", which also said that the institution does not encourage politics on its campus, neither does it recognise any political body, local, national or international among the college community.

 

The clarification came after the Students' Federation of India (SFI), a Left-wing student organisation politically aligned to the CPI, recalled Jha's association with the student body.

 

"He succumbed to the disease on Tuesday after being on a ventilator for eight days. He had also been elected as a member of the new organising committee of St Stephen's SFI formed in April," the SFI said.

 

"Rest In Power Comrade," the student body tweeted while paying tribute to Jha.

 

Ananyo Chakraborty, a second-year student of the college and a member of the SFI, said they came to know about Jha's demise on Wednesday.