But Aiyar added that there is a “huge generation gap between my and Rahul’s time” at the college. “From my experience, I had a very easy relationship with our teachers; the teachers were also our mentors and we used to hold long debates and discussions with them.”

Nandita Narain, Head of the Department, Mathematics, said Rahul was making a general point about higher education in India and not much should be read into the statement.

“It is my opinion, and that of the students I know, that at St Stephen’s we always encourage questions and answers. But people have their own individual experiences, which have their own validity.

“What is important is that participation in class has to reach institutes outside our own.”

Commenting on the state of higher education in India, Rahul Gandhi, in an interaction with students at HN Bahuguna Garhwal University in Srinagar (Uttarakhand) had said on Tuesday, “We don’t ask people (students) to ask questions. When I was in St Stephen’s College, asking question was not (perceived to be) good in our class.”