AShantiniketan’s western boundary on Sriniketan Road is a long, old white house, its green windows and doors opening onto an airy verandah. The low railing and clump of trees that lead to the house are reminiscent of Rabindranath Tagore’s idea of Visva-Bharati: old-timers say he was against houses being closed or hidden behind high boundary walls.
Change has arrived in the university town of West Bengal’s Birbhum district, and not just in the way ashramik The settled (residents) in the complex have started closing their doors, or sal trees have been lost in the concrete construction, but also in the presence of the police force. Beneath a mango tree weighed down by summer’s abundance of fruits, he meets economist Prof. Amartya Sen sits in a tent day and night outside Prachichi, his ancestral home.
A portion of the land on which the house stands has been the center of controversy since 2020, when the university granted permission to Prof. Sen was named in the list of people having excess land. But things took a drastic turn on April 19, 2023, when the Visva-Bharati University authorities eviction notice issued For a part of the property, Prof. To Sen. The six-page notice also stated that in the event of “refusal or failure to comply with this order within the specified period”, he “and all persons concerned” were liable to be evicted from the said premises, if necessary. Ho, the use of such force may be necessary”.
For the neighbors, the house has been an object of reverence as well as curiosity for the past few months. Shantabhanu Sen, former Vice-Chancellor of Visva-Bharati and grandson of Kshitimohan Sen, author of the book Hindu religion, lives in the neighboring house. Pointing to the signage outside in ornate Bengali script, he speaks of Pratichi, meaning west. “Amartya is my cousin. My father and his mother were siblings,” says the 70-year-old. “Whatever is happening around this house is injustice and an attempt to victimize someone we all look up to.”
The house stands on 1.38 acres and the dispute occupies only 0.13 acres or 13 decimals, approximately 5,500 square metres. Despite being a relatively small area, the controversy has shaken the entire state. Ever since the University Prof. Sen has been called an illegal occupier, since then he is angry.
Pro. Sen, who is abroad, said in a letter to the university administration in April 2023 that the land the university is claiming is part of the family’s ancestral home, named after his father Ashutosh Sen. Any “adverse claim” to the plot could not last until the lease rights expired: the land was leased in 1943 for a period of 99 years.
Protest at Shantiniketan, in which artists and singers participated. , photo credit: Debashish Bhaduri
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The issue made national headlines when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made a dramatic entry into Pratichi on January 30, 2023. Ms. Banerjee on the ground Prof. supported Sen’s claim and publicly handed him the land documents from the state government.
In the last four months, the CM has raised the issue several times. “You don’t know what I can do,” she said fiercely, adding that if the University Prof. She herself will lead the protest if Sen goes ahead with her plan to oust Sen.
During a meeting of the state cabinet on May 2, Ms. Banerjee asked party colleagues to organize a demonstration in front of Prachichi, directing that a cultural program be held. Calcutta High Court on 4th May Prof. Sen stayed Viswabharati’s eviction notice and asked a Bolpur court to hear the matter on May 10 (now adjourned). But West Bengal’s ruling party Trinamool Congress decided to continue with the protest.
The ‘cultural protest’ continued for four days from May 6 to May 9. Photo credit: Debashish Bhaduri
A 12-meter-long platform was built in front of the cool house. “Stand with Amartya Sen!” Read the message in the center of the protest site followed by the Bengali message “Attack on Rabindra tradition”.
The ‘cultural protest’ continued for four days from 6 May to 9 May. The venue was attended by artists and public figures from Kolkata, a large number of students, faculty members of Visva-Bharati and local people of Bolpur. University officials created a ruckus, arguing that how could there be a protest when the courts had given a stay.
From organizing a human chain in front of Prachichi to singing Tagore songs, the protest became a hit from day one. Chaiti Ghoshal, an actress from Kolkata performed bloodthirsty On the streets outside Prachichi (Tagore’s play on greed) and University alumnus Pinky Baij performed Chandalika (Tagore’s dance drama about love and self-realization).
Pratichi, the ancestral home of Prof. Amartya Sen in Visva-Bharati. , photo credit: Debashish Bhaduri
Artists Shubhaprasanna and Jogen Chowdhary joined the protest. Mr. Chowdhary painted a portrait of Tagore in 1913, the first person to receive the Nobel Prize outside Europe. Another artwork by Tagore, in which a monkey is sitting at his feet, trying to set his coat on fire, was seen at various places. counter. Mr. Shubhaprasanna, alumnus of Visva-Bharati, Prof. Sen, who won the Nobel Prize in 1998 eight decades later.
Reacting to the developments, Professor Sen expressed surprise at Visva-Bharati’s move in January and said Vidyut Chakraborty, the vice-chancellor appointed in November 2021, was trying to please his bosses in Delhi. Pro. Sen has been critical of the policies of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre.
“Whatever is happening around this house is injustice and an attempt to harass someone we all look up to”Shantabhanu SenCousin of Prof. Amartya Sen
behind the land dispute
At the time of the protest, on the occasion of Rabindra Jayanti at Shantiniketan, Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Kolkata on 9 May and stayed at Jorasanko Thakurbari, the ancestral home of Rabindranath Tagore, and paid tributes on the poet’s 162nd birth anniversary.
The Trinamool Congress pointed out the “disrespect towards Amartya Sen” in Visva-Bharati and said the home minister should apologize to the people of the state before paying homage to Tagore. Mr Shah’s comment on May 9 that Tagore had written a “national anthem” for two countries was well received by the Trinamool, which mocked the BJP leader’s limited understanding of Tagore and his ideals. The CM of the state has emphasized on many occasions that she will oppose the ‘saffronisation’ of Visva-Bharati.
At the time of the protest, Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Kolkata on 9 May, on the occasion of Rabindra Jayanti at Shantiniketan. photo credit: Debashish Bhaduri
The BJP’s attempts to appropriate Tagore’s legacy have not gone down well in the past as well. In December 2020, BJP President JP Nadda gave a false break by saying that Tagore was born in Visva-Bharati. Since then the Trinamool has left no opportunity to highlight the remark as a sign of the saffron party’s lack of knowledge about Tagore. During the peak campaigning for the 2021 Assembly elections, the Home Minister visited Santiniketan and courted controversy when he sat on Tagore’s chair while visiting the poet’s house, which has been converted into a museum.
“Vishwabharati is a shadow of its past glory and its decline has accelerated since 2014 when the BJP came to power. Those opposing Visva-Bharati’s saffronization efforts are Left liberals, who are also involved with Trinamool supporters,” said Prof. Political Supervisor, Department of Political Science, Rabindra Bharati University. Vishwanath Chakraborty says.
Subir Bandyopadhyay is the secretary of Vishwabharati Ashramik Sangha. ashramik.
, photo credit: Debashish Bhaduri
changing colors and rituals
In a return to the relaxed state that Shantiniketan symbolized, Subir Bandyopadhyay, secretary of the Visva-Bharati Ashramik Sangha, an association ashramik [not necessarily university alumni]Talks in detail about Bougainvillea and some of the orchids he grows in the verandah of his house.
Wandering among the fruit trees in his backyard, with a particular concern for litchi, he explains, “Rabindranath’s idea of education was an alternative to colonial thought. Those who come from outside have a different attitude and mental make-up,” he says. Like Pratichi, Mr. Bandyopadhyay’s house was built in the 1940s, many years before the university came into being.
The 70-year-old, whose father Prabhat Mohan Bandyopadhyay was a freedom fighter, says Visva-Bharati was an “ashram that was later converted into a university”. It was established by an Act of Parliament in 1951 and is the only university where the Prime Minister is the Chancellor.
Surpriyo Tagore, a descendant of Tagore and monastic In Visva-Bharati, the VC seems to be trying to saffronize the institution. , photo credit: Debashish Bhaduri
Like many other residents, he is particularly concerned about the boundary wall being built around the university. One section of the wall features Tagore’s face behind barbed wire, and reads, “Let your life dance quietly on the edge of time, like dew on the tip of a leaf.”
“The current system has not only built physical walls but also mental walls,” says Mr. Bandyopadhyay. For the past several years, the administration has been at loggerheads with a section of faculty members and students. There are reports of suspensions and dismissals every week, often leading to protracted legal battles.
“There is an atmosphere of fear; 22 faculty members have been suspended at different times. It includes eminent academicians who have contributed to global projects like CERN [the European organisation for nuclear research]Sudipta Bhattacharya, president of the Vishwabharati University Faculty Association, says.
A section of students feel that the university administration is acting in a vendetta. “Three students were terminated for breaking the lock on the campus. He had to approach the Calcutta High Court to get his suspension revoked,” says Meenakshi Bhattacharya, a student leader of the Trinamool Congress.
Ms Bhattacharya, a research scholar, says her PhD has been deliberately delayed for several months because she decided to speak out against university officials.
The vice chancellor who did not respond to messages amid the uproar called ashramik and university alumni “opportunists”.
Supriyo Tagore, now in his 80s and a descendant of Tagore, is a respected monastic In Visva-Bharati. They also feel that the Vice-Chancellor is trying to saffronise the institute and the presence and views of the old people are not respected.
Tagore’s motto for Visva-Bharati is a Sanskrit poem: yatra vishwam bhavatiek nidamMeaning, where the whole world meets in a single nest. On campus, it seems more like a departure than a meeting.