The freshly unveiled plaque of UNESCO ‘World Heritage Site’ at the Visva-Bharati University in West Bengal’s Santiniketan has drawn flak, as the name of the varsity’s founder and pre-Independence leader Rabindranath Tagore is missing from it.
The Congress, the country’s prime opposition party, took to Twitter to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the plaque mentions his name but not of Tagore.
“Erasure of Nehru wasn’t enough. Now, erasure of Rabindranath Tagore also begins,” Congress’ communications in-charge and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“In this obsession with naming and renaming, perhaps the PM must consider renaming Narcissism as Modicissism (sic),” added Pawan Khera, the Congress’ national spokesperson.
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The plaque mentions the names of “Shri Narendra Modi Acharya” and Visva-Bharati University’s Vice-Chancellor “Prof. Bidyut Chakrabarty Upacharya”.
Apart from the Congress, the West Bengal-ruling Trinamool Congress also condemned the Centre over Tagore’s name missing from the plaque. “UNESCO specifically said they are honouring Rabindranath Tagore and his unique legacy by declaring Santiniketan as a World Heritage Site. — A megalomaniac VC and his boss seem to think UNESCO is honouring them!! (sic),” the party’s Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar posted on X.
Responding to Sircar’s comments on social media, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said: “Just like the sun need not be identified, the relation between Tagore and Visva-Bharati need not be announced. Some people are raising irrelevant questions. There are some people whose only purpose is to oppose. Their statements have no acceptability.”
However, those who criticised the move includes Tagore’s great grandson Supriyo Thakur. “I am not in Santiniketan at the moment but I have heard the news. The present authorities are trying to wipe out the name of Tagore from Visva-Bharati,” The Hindustan Times quoted him as saying. “There should be some protest. Those who have done it should be taught a lesson,” he added.
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Updated: 23 Oct 2023, 02:44 PM IST