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Tag: visva bharati

  • Santiniketan Trust draws PM Modi’s attention to Visva Bharati VC’s ‘obnoxious’ remarks

    Express News Service

    KOLKATA: The Santiniketan Trust, a charitable body founded by Rabindranath Tagore’s father Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, has written a letter to PM Narendra Modi requesting his intervention to restrain Visva Bharati University vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty from making “obnoxious and derogatory remarks” against old-timers on the campus and alumni.

    The letter to Modi, who is the chancellor of Visva Bharati, reads: “We being the trustees of the said Trust can’t allow him (Chakrabarty) to use the platform of Upasana Griha (prayer hall) to insult and humiliate the Ashramiks (old-timers), alumni and local citizens.

    We appeal before your authority to restrain Bidyut Chakrabarty from doing obnoxious activities and from throwing remarks in abusive language in this Upasana Griha.” The letter to Modi is said to be significant against the backdrop of the controversy in which Visva Bharati accused Nobel laureate Amartya Sen of occupying 13 decimal of lands at his ancestral home without authorisation which belonged to the central university.

    The state government dismissed the varsity’s claim after examining land records. CM Mamata Banerjee met Sen at his residence and handed him over documents related to the land. The letter, however, did not mention the row between Visva Bharati and Sen. In the letter to Modi, Anil Konar, honorary secretary of the trust, said he was prompted to write the letter after around 200 people, including old-timers, teachers, students, artisans and traders of Santiniketan gave a mass petition expressing their anguish against the VC.  

    KOLKATA: The Santiniketan Trust, a charitable body founded by Rabindranath Tagore’s father Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, has written a letter to PM Narendra Modi requesting his intervention to restrain Visva Bharati University vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty from making “obnoxious and derogatory remarks” against old-timers on the campus and alumni.

    The letter to Modi, who is the chancellor of Visva Bharati, reads: “We being the trustees of the said Trust can’t allow him (Chakrabarty) to use the platform of Upasana Griha (prayer hall) to insult and humiliate the Ashramiks (old-timers), alumni and local citizens.

    We appeal before your authority to restrain Bidyut Chakrabarty from doing obnoxious activities and from throwing remarks in abusive language in this Upasana Griha.” The letter to Modi is said to be significant against the backdrop of the controversy in which Visva Bharati accused Nobel laureate Amartya Sen of occupying 13 decimal of lands at his ancestral home without authorisation which belonged to the central university.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    The state government dismissed the varsity’s claim after examining land records. CM Mamata Banerjee met Sen at his residence and handed him over documents related to the land. The letter, however, did not mention the row between Visva Bharati and Sen. In the letter to Modi, Anil Konar, honorary secretary of the trust, said he was prompted to write the letter after around 200 people, including old-timers, teachers, students, artisans and traders of Santiniketan gave a mass petition expressing their anguish against the VC. 
     

  • ‘What about Visva-Bharati?’: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee amid Aliah University row

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Stating that her government took action against the former TMCP student leader who heckled the vice-chancellor of state-run Aliah University, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday sought to know what steps were initiated against the VC of Visva-Bharati, a central university.

    Giasuddin Mondal, a former leader of the TMC’s student wing, was seen in a purported video threatening and verbally abusing Aliah University VC Mohammad Ali, following which he was arrested.

    “Police have already made an arrest in the Aliah University incident. What is happening in Visva-Bharati and Bolpur? How many people have been arrested there? Has the VC of Visva-Bharati been arrested?” she told reporters at the state secretariat.

    “A section (community) studies in Aliah University. All are good. There can be discontentment among the students of Aliah University. The one who hurled abuses has been arrested by police. Here police take action,” she added.

    Banerjee’s comments came in the backdrop of ceaseless student protests at the Visva-Bharati in Bolpur’s Santiniketan over a host of issues.

    “Is there any action taken in Visva-Bharati against what this ‘bhadralok’ (gentleman) is doing there,” she said, in an apparent dig.

    Incidentally, Visva-Bharati praised the police and said that similar steps should be taken against those students who had gheraoed senior varsity functionaries last month and used abusive words.

  • Bengal: Visva-Bharati professor, accused of casteist slur, files harassment complaint against student

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: A professor of the Visva-Bharati on Friday filed a police complaint alleging harassment by one of the three pupils expelled by the varsity after the student, who has now been granted relief by the Calcutta High Court, accused him of hurling casteist slurs.

    Somnath Sow, the student, alleged that he came across professor Sumit Basu at a tea stall in Shyambati area of Santiniketan in the morning.

    It was at that time, Basu “called me a Dalit and said he do not want to talk to me”, Sow alleged.

    Sow said that he has filed a complaint at the Santiniketan police station over the matter.

    Basu, a teacher of Manipuri dance at Sangit Bhavana, also filed a complaint with the police alleging that Sow, an SFI leader, abused and heckled him.

    In his complaint, Basu claimed that when he was returning home, he was stopped by Sow who was on his motorcycle, following which he was heckled and abused.

    A varsity official denied that Basu had made any racist comment against Sow.

    Instead, Sow made provocative comments against the professor mocking his closeness with vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty, the official claimed.

    “Sow also dared him to take any action and continued to argue with him,” he alleged. A police officer confirmed that two complaints were filed but refused to divulge any details.

    The campus was on the boil since the last week of August as the varsity rusticated Sow and two other students for “disorderly conduct”.

    On Wednesday, the high court set aside the rustication order, bringing back normalcy to the central varsity.

    Meanwhile, the varsity sent a notice to professor Sudipto Bhattacharya, who took part in the protest against the rustication of the students and was present in the sit-in near the residence of the vice-chancellor last week.

    The notice, signed by the officiating registrar, stated, “You are reported to have instigated a group of students while they were agitating near the residence of the Vice Chancellor to undertake vandalism, seize the residence of the Vice Chancellor, disrupt the normal activities of the university and other unlawful activities.”

    Bhattacharya, an office-bearer of the Visva-Bharati University Faculty Association, was asked to reply within three days.

    Terming the notice undemocratic, the professor at the Department of Economics and Politics said, “The allegations raised against me are baseless. I will reply within the given time.”

  • Visva-Bharati announces lecture on reasons of BJP’s defeat in Bengal polls, cancels later

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: A virtual lecture on the reasons behind the BJP’s setback in the West Bengal assembly polls, to be organised by Visva-Bharati university next week, was cancelled hours after it was announced on Wednesday, varsity sources said.

    The lecture, “Why BJP failed to win West Bengal Assembly Elections” by Niti Aayog Joint Advisor Prof Sanjay Kumar, was part of the Visva-Bharati Lecture Series and Vice- Chancellor Prof Bidyut Chakrabarty was scheduled to preside over the programme.

    A notice inviting people to attend the lecture to be held at 4 pm on May 18 via Zoom platform was posted on the central university’s website earlier in the day.

    However, the authorities withdrew the notice, a copy of which is with PTI, from the website in the afternoon, sources said.

    A brief message – “Due to some unavoidable circumstances, this 35th lecture is treated to be as cancelled for the time being” – had been later added to the notice which is also not available on the website now.

    Visva-Bharati officials are not available for comment on the issue.

    The decision to hold a lecture on such a political issue by the university founded by Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore did not go down well with a section of the ashramites and the faculty.

    Veteran ashramite and Tagore family descendant Supriyo Tagore said, “Such blatantly political discourse should not be held in an institution like Visva Bharati associated with the ideals of Rabindranath.”

    Tagore founded Visva-Bharati in 1921 and it became a central university in 1951, 10 years after the bard’s death.

    A member of Left-leaning Visva Bharati University Faculty Association said, “The lecture on finding the reasons behind the BJP’s defeat by a Niti Aayog official would have compromised Visva-Bharati’s image as a liberal, independent institution.”

    The lecture showed the political leanings of the present management of the university, he claimed, saying that it is good that the programme was cancelled.

    In the West Bengal assembly election, the BJP bagged 77 seats while the Trinamool Congress secured a landslide victory winning 213 of the 292 constituencies that went to polls.

    Election was countermanded in two seats due to the death of candidates.

  • ‘Poush mela, Basantotsab suspended to stem COVID’: Visva-Bharati defends its VC

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Days after Visva-Bharati Vice Chancellor (VC) Bidyut Chakraborty wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagging alleged threat by TMC strongman Anubrata Mondal for “not opening the varsity campus”, the institute on Thursday said certain decisions have been taken keeping in mind the COVID-19 situation.

    The PM is the chancellor of the central university.

    Mondal, the TMC’s Birbhum district president, said at a public meeting on March 23 that “a mad person” has occupied the chair of the VC of Visva-Bharati who keeps all the gates of the varsity shut during the day, notwithstanding an order issued by the Calcutta High Court.

    The premier varsity, in its statement, also said that the VC was not at fault for temporarily suspending heritage festivals like Poush Mela and Basantotsab.

    The annual fair and Holi celebrations draw lakhs of tourists to Santiniketan every year, and the decision to cancel the festivities was taken to stem the spread of COVID- 19, it said, while acknowledging the fact that the move had an impact on the livelihood of thousands.

    Debunking allegations that Visva-Bharati had been rocked by unrest in the recent weeks, the varsity said, “We have restored work culture on the campus, sped up administrative work and introduced high-speed internet, which has been a boon for both teachers and students during online academic sessions.”

    The statement further said that “some harsh decisions to curb corruption in the university has caused heartburn among many” and cited recovery of Rs 2.

    53 crore from employees as an example of crackdown on “financial misappropriation”.

    Chakraborty had been in the eye of storm over a host of controversial decisions, including fencing of Poush Mela ground, suspension of a section of faculty on disciplinary grounds, cancellation of Poush mela and Basantotsab, and criticisism of some faculty, students and ashramites over their conduct in an open letter.

    Responding to the statement, the left-leaning faculty association at the central varsity said the assertions made in the statement do not hold water as the VC had violated COVID- 19 protocols by arranging physical meetings during the lockdown last year.

  • ‘Trinamool’s Anubrata Mondal threatened me’: Visva-Bharati VC writes to PM for security

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Visva-Bharati university Vice- Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to take steps for ensuring his safety, alleging that Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal has threatened him.

    Attaching clippings of local newspapers, Chakraborty alleged that Mondal threatened to teach him a lesson that he shall never forget in life.

    “This is to bring to your kind notice that the TMC district President Anubrata Mondal threatened me with dire consequences after the poll,” Chakraborty said in the letter dated March 24.

    “Under these circumstances, this is an earnest request to you to adopt steps to avoid untoward incidents in the campus and to ensure my physical well-being along with family members,” he added.

    The prime minister is the chancellor of the varsity.

    Mondal, the TMC’s Birbhum strongman, said at a public meeting on March 23 that “a mad person” has occupied the chair of the VC of Visva-Bharti who keeps all the gates of the varsity shut during the day time, despite an order of the Calcutta High Court.

    “We will teach you a lesson after the elections by democratic means, a lesson you will not forget,” Mondal had said, in an apparent reference to Chakraborty.

    Mondal could not be reached for his response to the vice-chancellor’s letter.

    However, a senior TMC leader said that he had just voiced the swelling anger of the locals against Chakraborty.

    “The VC has been on a confrontational path with the faculty, majority of the students, ashramites and local businessmen for a considerable period. Mondal just voiced their anger and did not threaten anyone,” he claimed.

  • ‘Will ensure campus gets closed’: Visva-Bharati VC in fresh row after audio clip emerges

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Visva-Bharati Vice Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty, who had earlier courted several controversies, triggered a fresh row on Wednesday over a purported audio clip of him threatening to close down the premier central university.

    In the viral audio clip, which could not be verified, Chakraborty was heard telling the faculty and non-teaching staff: “I will ensure Visva-Bharati is closed down. But I am not issuing any threat.”

    “Visva-Bharati has become a hotbed of thieves and dacoits. Otherwise how come (TMC leader) Anubrata Mondal gets away by saying the VC is insane,” he said.

    The audio clips triggered widespread protests but the Visva-Bharati authorities did not issue any official statement.

    In another audio clip, apparently of the same virtual meeting, Chakraborty purportedly said: “No sane person will be able to sustain here, considering the extent of theft going on unabated.”

    “Some of the children here try to break open the locks of a faculty member, but there is no protest. Everyone here is an escapist but wants the full salary at the start of the month. I tried to catch the thieves and hence I am bad for some,” he said.

    A senior faculty member said the comments were made at a virtual meeting on March 15 where the VC was talking about disciplinary action against some university staff and employees.

  • Modi hails Visva Bharati, says it should help farmers, artisans find global markets

    By PTI
    VISVA BHARATI (WEST BENGAL):  Extolling Visva Bharati for its inspiring legacy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asked its students to help farmers and artisans in villages adopted by the institution find global markets for their products.

    He said Guru Rabindranath Tagore had not envisioned the university as a typical educational institution but one that will help Indian culture realise its full potential.

    Addressing the convocation of Visva Bharati, the country’s oldest central university, Modi said knowledge was not a “still and static but a dynamic concept”.

    “I urge the students and teachers of this inspirational institution to help farmers, artisans living in villages adopted by the institution to find global markets for their products. That will be a step towards building an ‘Atmanirbhar’ (self-reliant) Bharat,” he said.

    He told the gathering that with knowledge comes responsibility and the knowledge attained by them was not theirs alone but a legacy for future generations.

    “Your knowledge and skill can make society proud but it can also push it into the darkness of ruin.

    There are many examples in history and in the present.

    You will find some highly educated, skilled people among those who are spreading terror and violence in the world. On the other hand, some people are toiling day and night to free the world from a global epidemic like corona. What matters most is the mindset,” he said.

    The prime minister said the National Education Policy was a major step towards building a self-reliant India as it gave impetus to research and innovation.

    India, he said, cannot become ‘Atmanirbhar’ without the self-confidence of its daughters.

    New National Education Policy having a gender inclusion fund was a major step towards building a self- reliant India, he said.

    He encouraged the youth to take risks without the fear of failure.

    “If your intentions are clear and your loyalty is to ‘Ma Bharati’ every decision of yours will take you towards finding a solution. Success and failure do not determine our present and future. You may not get the results you thought after taking a decision, but you should not be afraid to take a decision,” he said.

    Altogether 2,535 students received their degrees at the convocation.