St Stephen’s College seems to have taken serious offense to Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s comment that during his year-long stay there, students who asked questions in class “were looked down upon”.

On Tuesday, while addressing students at a university in Srinagar, Rahul Gandhi said, “When I was studying at St Stephen’s College, asking a question was not (perceived to be) good in our class. You were looked down upon if you asked too many questions.”

This statement set off a chain reaction among the Stephanians.

Pankaj Misra, an alumni now serves as a Sanskrit in the college, says, "Rahul was two years my junior. He was neither too good in studies nor a regular student. So it doesn't really mean anything if he makes such remarks."

Older Stephanians were taken aback by Rahul’s claim. Election commissioner S Y Qureshi said, “Things might have changed now. But it was very different in our times. The teacher-student relation during my college days was very open. That was one of the reasons why the college did so well in all spheres,” Qureshi says.

“What Mr Gandhi said is his personal experience and there’s no reason to believe otherwise. It can certainly not be correct to make such a generalisation about the overall academic environment at the college,” said Valson Thampu, principal.