Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (PMD)

Mangaluru, Jun 22: St Aloysius College administration expressed its dismay about the reported news that the road from Catholic Club, Hampanakatta to Ambedkar Circle would be renamed 'Mulki Sundararama Shetty Road', at a press meet at the college, on Thursday, June 22.

The changes would take place via the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) as per the government orders. It is stated that the MCC had taken the decision after getting the consent of several secular organisations.

St Aloysius Institutions made an open appeal to the MCC and the government of Karnataka to re-validate the name 'St Aloysius College Road', as a recognition for the many services rendered by the institution.

"One of the major landmarks in the said road is St Aloysius College. This road was earlier known as Light House Hill Road and later it was named as St Aloysius College Road on the request of the college. The name board still exists. We earnestly feel that there is no need of changing the name of the road at this juncture," said Fr Dionysius Vaz, rector of the college.

"Our focus is on communal harmony. We are looking at a 'dialogue approach' for the problem, and have no intention of creating a controversy. The circular inviting any objection to renaming the road as 'Mulki Sundararama Shetty Road' was published in a tiny column in 2015. But we did not expect it to happen. We will continue calling the stretch 'Aloysius College Road'," he said.

"The 'Aloysius College Road' marker was put in place 15 years ago on our request. Tourists flock to see the chapel here, which is one of the few attractions in the city. This is a 137-year-old Jesuit institute, much older than Fr Muller Hospital which has a road to its name," added the rector.

"As per request by the college, the road markers of St Aloysius College Road was put at the formerly known Light House Hill Road, opposite MCC Bank here. Now all of a sudden, the process of the name being changed to Mulki Sundararama Shetty Road, is underway. We were made aware of the same, from news reports. When we asked for clarification at the MCC, we came to know about the formalities in place," said Dr A M Narahari, registrar of the college.

Preserving a Rich Heritage

Fr Dionysius explained the significance of the college and the need for retaining the name of the road.

"St Aloysius College has no intention of creating a controversy about the services rendered by Mulky Sundararama Shetty. The college has high regards towards him. However, there have been several roads and buildings named after him in the state," the rector clarified.

"The contribution of the college to the society and the nation is very unique. Apart from maintaining high academic standards, the college has been striving after value based education and training to prepare the students as responsible citizens. St Aloysius College has immensely contributed for making Dakshina Kannada an educational hub. St Aloysius College is the pride of Mangaluru. The college, having a glorious history of 137 years of its existence, has rendered outstanding service to the society," the rector said.

"Needless to say that the institution is established and managed by Jesuit Fathers who are known all over the world for their selfless services in education, healthcare and social services," he said.

"It is to be noted that the famous Fr Muller Hospital was established by Jesuits. The services of Fr Muller Hospital have been recognized by naming the main road after it. In this context, the least we could do to appreciate the services of St Aloysius College is to retain the name of the said road as St Aloysius College Road. This is our earnest request," the rector continued.

"There is long list of eminent personalities of the nation who emerged from this campus including Dr TMA Pai, KS Hegde, Vinay Hegde, Justice Santosh Hegde, the former Lokayukta; George Fernandes, politician; Anantha Krishan, Jayarm Bhat, Mahabaleshwar Bhat, Allan Pereira, K V Kamath, Dr K V Rao, Ullas Karanth, Aravind Adiga, Man Booker prize winner; Padmashree Anantha Agarwal, Yenepoya Abdulla Knuhi, Siddarth, founder of Café Coffee Day; Sudhir Shetty, CEO UAE Exchange; cricketer KL Rahul, popular music director Gurukiran, Dr Deviprasad Shetty, Dr Shantaram Shetty, Supreme court advocate Venugopal, other respected advocates like Blazius D’Souza, Subbaiah Shetty and other contemporary politicians like Janardhan Poojary, UT Khader, Ivan D’Souza, Yogish Bhat, Nagaraj Shetty and innumerable number of other former students," he said.

"Two illustrious presidents of India, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy and Dr APJ Abdul Kalam visited the college and spoke very high of the services of Jesuits in education, healthcare and social. At present there are nearly 14,000 students in SAC campus. Many eminent teachers and academicians of high caliber have served in this college. Former students of SAC keep speaking very high of their great teachers whenever they come back to their alma mater," he informed.

"St Aloysius College Chapel attracts tourists from all over the globe for its world famous and rare paintings. The chapel is a recognised tourist destination and has made Mangalureans proud." he concluded.

Fr Praveen Martis, principal; Fr Pradeep Sequeira, finance officer; N G Mohan, SACAA; Archibald Menezes, president, SACAA, and Fr Melwyn Pinto, vice-principal were present.