Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 30: The latent political heat between the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal and the central university “Visva-Bharati,” the only university where the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the chancellor, has come out in the open after the vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty sent a letter to the chief minister Mamata Banerjee loaded with invectives and political issues totally unrelated to the university.
This prompted the TMC to raise an accusing finger against the vice-chancellor of having made the world-famous campus internationally known as “Shantiniketan,” the name given by its creator Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore, an arena of BJP activities. The TMC also said the vice-chancellor had written the politically-loaded letter only to earn some brownie points from the central government as Mr Chakraborty’s term was coming to an end and was seeking an extension.
The issue flared up on disagreement over a plaque at Shantiniketan which has snowballed into a political row and led to an explosive letter from Mr Chakraborty to the Chief Minister. The Vice-Chancellor’s letter to Ms Banerjee came loaded with invectives and political statements on issues completely unrelated to the university. It accused party leaders of sycophancy, megalomania and corruption and alleged the Chief Minister was being guided by them.
“Abrasive and arrogant display of self-absorbed narcissism continues in what was once the Gurudev’s abode,” said Ms Banerjee. “UNESCO recognizes the world heritage of Shantiniketan, but the local headman of today continues to flaunt his own little name in memorial pieces!! For God’s sake, remove the insulting plaques which erase out the name of Rabindranath Tagore from the face of the institution that the poet had so painstakingly founded!! Show some dignity and humility!! The ruling dispensation at Delhi should take corrective action forthwith,” she added.
Shantiniketan, where the Nobel laureate had built Visva-Bharati over a century ago, recently made it to the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. A plaque unveiled to commemorate this honour triggered a controversy as it mentioned the names of the Vice Chancellor and the Prime Minister, but not of Tagore, to which Ms Banerjee had objected.
“This insults Tagore and belittles the anti-colonial heritage-creating efforts of our Nation’s founding fathers. The central government will be well advised to remove this narcissistic display of arrogant self-exhibitionism forthwith, and to give Gurudev the tribute that the country owes to him,” Ms Banerjee had said.
The Vice Chancellor, in his response, said, “We need to follow the ASI instructions while preparing the plaque and we are doing it, the result of which will soon be visible.” This much was to answer the charge the chief minister made but Mr Chakraborty did not stop here and brought forth political charges that were totally unrelated to the issue.
“Madam, please be magnanimous because you are as much a Chief Minister of your loyalists as others who may not always be your sycophants… A megalomaniac Rajya Sabha member of your political party tried to gain this recognition and the then Prime Minister also tried without, of course, success,” added Mr Chakraborty.
He went further to defend his administration and said, “We have also here in the campus competent individuals who are completely different from the sycophants surrounding you… The Hon’ble Prime Minister is our Hon’ble Chancellor and his role in getting this World Heritage tag cannot be gauged in any of the available yardsticks.”
Mr Chakraborty also sought to remind her how former Trinamool ministers are languishing in jails and about Mahua Moitra, who is being probed by the Ethics Committee of the Parliament over allegations of allowing a businessman drafts questions on behalf of her in exchange of gifts.
“Two of your senior ministers are in jail; some of your trusted aides (even from Birbhum) in jail, including in Tihar jail in Delhi. Your most vocal member of parliament is being charged with activities which have already drawn the parliamentary ethics committee to examine the issue,” the letter read.
“We have purged Visva-Bharati of evil forces involved in activities which stand in contradiction with Visva-Bharati’s ethos,” the Vice Chancellor said. “Visva-Bharati was a nursery of corruption. By dint of hard work, it has now changed, and we are sure, in course of time, we will see the results,” he added.
In his letter, Mr Chakraborty also raised the issue of a road passing through the university but is under the possession of the government. “A face-to-face dialogue with us will give you an opportunity to see the other side of the narrative,” he said.
The Vice-Chancellor had earlier clashed with the Chief Minister over the property dispute between the university and the Nobel Laureate economist Amartya Sen. Mr Chakaaborty is insisting that a small piece of land in Mr Sen’s residence just outside the university campus was under his illegal occupation and must be returned to the university. The state government, however, maintain that the disputed piece of land was allocated to Mr Sen’s father, who was a professor in the Visva-Bharati University, by the state government.