Trinamool Accuses BJP of Ousting Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen: Unrest in Santiniketan

Santiniketan, India - Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday accused the BJP government at the Centre of attempting to oust Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen from his ancestral home in Santiniketan.

Banerjee, while addressing a poll rally in Birbhum’s Khoiraolse, stated that the BJP government served notices on Sen to vacate a stretch of 13 decimal land of his ancestral home, Pratichi. The central university, Visva-Bharati, which has Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its chancellor, argued that Sen was illegally occupying a part of the land.

However, the conspiracy did not succeed as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met Sen at his home and handed over all relevant land documents to him, establishing that the allegations against the eminent scholar were unfounded.

Despite not following the instructions and moving the court, Sen received an eviction notice from the central university authorities, headed by its then vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty, in April last year. However, on January 31 this year, the court of the Birbhum district judge set aside the eviction order.

Abhishek further criticized the BJP for the installation of a plaque at the varsity, describing it as a Unesco World Heritage Site, without the name of its founder Rabindranath Tagore. The plaque, installed in two places on the campus, mentioned the names of Narendra Modi and Bidyut Chakrabarty as the chancellor and vice-chancellor, respectively.

“Birbhum is the land of culture and it played a significant role in protecting the cultural ethos of Bengal. The BJP government at the Centre denigrated this pious land, too. They removed the name of Rabindranath Tagore from a plaque, despite people across the globe knowing the place by his name,” Abhishek added.

Following sharp criticism from various quarters within India and abroad, the union education ministry sent a directive to the varsity authorities to replace those plaques with new ones, bearing the name of the bard. The controversial plaques were removed in December last year.

Abhishek also criticized the BJP for the cancellation of the nomination of its Birbhum nominee and former IPS officer Debasish Dhar. The election commission cancelled the nomination of the former Cooch Behar police chief on Friday, as he failed to submit ‘no-dues’ clearances from the state government.