Defense Minister Rajnath Singh visited Rabindra-Bhavan, Shantiniketan in Birbhum on Friday. , Photo Credit: ANI
The convocation ceremony of Visva Bharati University in West Bengal’s Santiniketan was held on Friday amid protests from a section of students, along with allegations of boycott by alumni and some faculty members.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh was the chief guest of the convocation ceremony. He spoke about the humanism and contribution of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, the founder of the university.
“The humanism of Gurudev (Rabindranath Tagore) gave us an institution like Visva Bharati. I hope Visva Bharati gives humanity to people like Gurudev. A personality like him can only come from among you,” Mr. Singh said while addressing the graduating students.
Noting that nationalism in India is “not regional but cultural”, he said that Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s nationalism was more visible in his actions than his words when he renounced his knighthood after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
The Union Minister called for re-awakening in West Bengal, recalling the oft-quoted words of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, “Bengal who thinks today, India thinks tomorrow”. “The state needs re-awakening in areas like science and technology, and philosophy so that it can lead the nation.” Mr. Singh said.
The convocation was held amid posters put up by a section of students against the ceremony. Posters like ‘Boycott the political convocation’ were put up at many places in the university campus. A section of university students was also planning to organize a BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question”, but alleged that they were prevented from screening the documentary by security personnel.
A section of Visva Bharati alumni were also angry as they were not allowed in the convocation. Differences between the vice-chancellor of the university and a section of alumni came to the fore a few days ago when vice-chancellor Vidyut Chakraborty criticized alumni of the prestigious institution.
The Visva Bharati University Faculty Association, in a statement, criticized the vice-chancellor for organizing the university’s convocation at such a short notice and questioned the exclusion of three professors from the convocation without any reason.
The convocation comes at a time when the institute is embroiled in several controversies, including that of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. Vice Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty accused Professor Sen of occupying more than 0.13 decimals of land in his name.
Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee came in support of Professor Sen and Prof. Land documents were handed over to Sen. The Nobel laureate had said that the Vice Chancellor was targeting him to please his bosses in the ruling establishment in New Delhi.