Bengali version of controversial plaques to be finalized tomorrow

The six-member committee met for the first time at Visva-Bharati on Friday and decided to finalize the content during a meeting on Saturday. The committee was formed to draft the Bengali version of the English and Hindi texts sent by the Center for inscription on the plaques to replace the controversial tablets that had omitted Rabindranath Tagore's name.

The Union education ministry pushed the members to call an emergency meeting so that the plaques could be removed as quickly as possible, according to a source.

All six members have received the SMS that were provided by the ministry. They will work on the Bengali draft and provide suggestions for any modifications to be made to both the Bengali and English editions. A top university official said, "We have agreed to finalize this on Saturday and submit our recommendation to acting vice-chancellor Sanjoy Kumar Mallik.

Three members were present in person at Rabindra Bhavana, while the remaining three took part in the meeting by videoconference.

The meeting was scheduled on November 19 or 20. The Union Education Ministry, however, did not want any further delays in replacing the contentious plaques, which is why the meeting was called almost away, the official said.

The education ministry delivered precise texts in Hindi and English on Tuesday, with the command to install them in lieu of the plaques that did not include Tagore's name. Visva-Bharati then assembled the six-member committee on Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Visva-Bharati vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty were mentioned on the contentious plaques, which were put in place and drew harsh condemnation from all sides.

Heading the six-person group is acting director of culture Amal Pal, with four additional educators on board: history teacher Anil Kumar, Bengali teacher Manabendra Mukhopadhyay, Hindi instructor Shakuntala Mishra, and acting director of the publishing department Amrit Sen. Nilanjan Bandyopadhyay, a special officer of Rabindra Bhavana, is the sixth member.

According to a source, "the acting VC may refer the matter to the Union ministry of education again for final approval after the six-member committee submits the draft."