Weeks after a huge controversy erupted after officials at the Visva-Bharati University accused Nobel laureate Amartya Sen s family of being in illegal possession of land at the campus, university officials have now written to the West Bengal government to measure the plot to resolve the dispute.
Earlier, the Nobel laureate had said that the university land on which his house stands is on a long-term lease.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had reacted angrily to the accusation, saying Sen was being subjected to such a vicious attack by the present university authorities because of his ideological anti-BJP stance . Several prominent intellectuals of the state have also expressed support to the economist on the row.
A group of varsity students wrote to Visva-Bharati vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty on Friday seeking an unconditional repeal of Thursday’s order suspending two student leaders.
Visva-Bharati’s proctor Sankar Majumder had on Thursday suspended student leaders Somnath Sow and Phalguni Pan after the varsity accused them of “forcibly” breaking a lock at faculty chambers on January 9.
Pan and Sow, postgraduate economics students, had taken part in the students’ protest that day condemning the suspension of their professor and faculty association president Sudipta Bhattacharyya who had been critical of the VC’s alleged “saffron agenda”.
The suspension of students came soon after noted academics signed a petition addressed to the VC demanding Bhattacharyya be reinstated.
Visva-Bharati authorities on Thursday suspended two student leaders who took part in protests on January 9 to condemn the recent suspension of economics professor and faculty association president Sudipta Bhattacharyya.
In the suspension notice issued by Visva-Bharati proctor Sankar Majumder to student leaders Somnath Sow and Phalguni Pan, the varsity accused them of “forcibly” breaking the “seal/ lock of the chamber of a particular faculty member in the Department of Economics & Politics, Visva-Bharati, on 09.01.2021”.
The notice states that the decision to suspend the students had been taken by vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty and the suspension would continue till a detailed inquiry by the varsity, likely to take three months, is over.
The Visva-Bharati authorities are keen to silence dissent and the suspension of economics teacher Sudipta Bhattacharyya bears testimony to that, said a group of teachers who assembled in front of the university’s publishing department office in Calcutta.
The perception on the Santiniketan campus is that Bhattacharyya has been penalised for the role he played in revealing how vice-chancel-lor Bidyut Chakrabarty had insulted Nobel laureate Amartya Sen.
The teachers, from various colleges and universities, alleged that the Visva-Bharati administration was trying to destroy the atmosphere of free thinking on the campus. They assembled under the banner “Right to Save Education Forum”.
March against professor suspension
Over 200 students, teachers and academics owing allegiance to the Left Front took out a march in Bolpur on Monday to protest against the suspension of Visva-Bharati professor Sudipta Bhattacharyya by vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty and his alleged bid to “saffronise” the varsity.
The procession was held a day after over 500 academics from across the globe had signed an online petition to protest the economics professor’s suspension. Monday’s rally was held under the banner of the Right to Education Forum a Left-wing platform for teachers and students. Along with the forum’s members, supporters of the SFI, DYFI and a few senior CPM leaders assembled at the Fire Brigade More in Bolpur on Monday morning for a demonstration.