Amidst the ongoing controversy at Visva Bharati University where the University had accused Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen of land grab, Professor Sen on Thursday said that he was surprised at the mind-set of the authorities of the Central University.
He also told journalists at his Santiniketan residence that those engaged in academics should find out if justice or injustice was being done.
Earlier this week, a letter signed by the Deputy Registrar of Visva Bharati had alleged that Professor Sen’s residence was built on an area, which covered extra 13 decimals of land.
Professor Sen had called the contents of the letter “frivolous”. The economist had said that he was “very much irritated” by the developments. “This is my residence which was built on leased land from Visva-Bharati in the 1940s. The land was leased out to us for 100 years. Some of the land was also bought by my father from the market following all rules and regulations. There was no danger of overstaying,” Professor Sen said.
The allegations against Professor Sen were refuted by the Visva Bharati University Faculty Association.
“The allegation of unauthorised occupation of the land of Visva-Bharati made by Bidyut Chakraborty, Vice-Chancellor, Visva-Bharati, against Amartya Sen is evidently false,” Kausik Bhattacharya, Secretary, VBUFA said in a statement on Thursday.
Professor Bhattacharya added that on three sides Professor Sen’s land was surrounded by private land and the remaining side was adjacent to PWD road. There was no land owned by Visva-Bharati, adjacent to Professor Sen’s land.
Baseless and with ill-will
“Hence, it is impossible for Sen to illegally occupy any land of Visva-Bharati. Moreover, the allegation has been made without any evidence implying ill motive,” he added.
Vice Chancellor of University, Bidyut Chakraborty without taking the name of Professor Sen had targeted him by saying that those taking refuge in being “Rabindrik” (something emanating from the philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore) did not participate in the practices laid down by Gurudev (Tagore) but indulged in all kind of activities, including land grab. Professor Chakraborty who was appointed Vice Chancellor in 2018, had often been accused by a section of faculty members and students of trying to impose the ideology of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
This was not the first time the Visva Bharati administration had targeted Professor Sen for being critical of the Central Government policies. In 2020 the University administration had named Professor Sen among the list of people who had occupied the University’s land.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sent a letter supporting the Nobel Laureate. Professor Sen, in turn, described the allegations as being politically motivated.
“Some of the land was also bought by my father from the market following all rules and regulations”Professor Amartya SenNobel Laureate
