Unfortunately for Mr Mascarenhas, the fact remains that he is in a position of power over young people, and thus should have exercised more caution. A position of strict neutrality in such matters is thus considered appropriate. True, this is more honoured in the breach than the observance these days. Nevertheless, criticism of Mr Mascarenhas for using the college's methods of outreach to its students - the email system - to put across his political views is justified and understandable. Had, instead, Mr Mascarenhas chosen to put across his views in a newspaper op-ed that his students could choose to read, it might have been a better decision. Naturally, the BJP itself might consider that it does not have a firm position in this debate; Gujarat's college administrations are so political that, in one of them, students were even fined and suspended last year for failing to attend Mr Modi's "run for unity".
In a deeply politically polarised climate, men like the principal of St Xavier's might find it difficult to stay silent. Yet it is very important to ensure that educational institutions are depoliticised as far as possible. In Kolkata, for example, where politics has never been very distant from college campuses, there is uproar in Presidency College. The college's "mentor", the US-based historian Sugato Bose, has decided to stand for election to Parliament as a nominee of the Trinamool Congress, currently in power in the state. Mr Bose is campaigning on his status as a mentor of Presidency, and on his family connection to Subhas Chandra Bose. Presidency's students are alarmed at this - partly because the college underwent a frightening, violent siege last year by Trinamool Congress activists - and a recent "referendum" of students found that 1,200 of 1,500 wanted Mr Bose to relinquish his role as mentor before becoming a political candidate.
The larger question, therefore, is whether college administrators can be permitted to express a political opinion at all. Whatever the answer to this question, wherever the line is drawn, it is clear that using official channels to suggest how students vote crosses that line. Mr Mascarenhas' claim that he did not specifically endorse the Congress or any of Mr Modi's opponents is beside the point. If he was concerned about the nature of the Gujarat model of development, he might have considered introducing a study of it in the curriculum instead - St Xavier's is, after all, an autonomous college. But the question should not be limited to educators alone. Should not concern also be raised about letters from, say, owners or promoters of companies to their employees strongly suggesting they vote for one side or another? Social networks are abuzz with examples of such letters - mostly in favour of Mr Modi, for obvious reasons. If campuses are not the right places for those in authority to share their political opinions with their wards, are workplaces? As India's democracy matures, these are questions it must wrestle with.