Eminent personalities call for meeting against Visva Bharati University’s ‘heckling’ of Amartya Sen

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has condemned the attitude of the university against an individual who made the country proud.

MP  |  25 Apr 2023  | Kolkata: Following Viswa Bharati University’s (VBU) ultimatum to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen over the land dispute case, eminent people have called for a meeting at Nandan premises in the city in a bid to discuss the issue and launch a protest. The action of the VBU against Sen so far has drawn flak from all corners. 

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has condemned the attitude of the university against an individual who made the country proud. She has lent all support to Sen. 

Now, eminent personalities which include Indian authors Anita Agnihotri, and Achin Chakraborty, among others, have condemned the action by VBU against Amartya Sen in an issued statement. 

They have criticised the notice of eviction and have called for a meeting of intellectuals at Nandan III on Thursday at 5 pm, it is learnt. The meeting is expected to witness an exchange of dialogues and opinions surrounding the “heckling” of Sen over a piece of land. 

Recently, VBU served a final eviction notice to Sen, issued under Public Premises (Eviction and Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971. It asked him to either vacate the 13 decimals of land by May 06 or face eviction. 

The university has sought to highlight that there is no challenge to the assertion that the premises concerned is a public premise and that Viswa Bharati is its owner. To substantiate the claim, it argued that neither Sen nor his advocates challenged this. 

The university even argued that state government records show VBU is the owner of the plot concerned. 

VBU authorities also argued that Sen was given adequate opportunities for showing cause before it was decided that the final notice must be served. Sen, replying to the earlier eviction notice from the university said that he saw a statement issued by some parts of Visva Bharati about his ancestral home Pratichi, Santiniketan, which has been in possession and regular use of his family since 1943.

Sen had earlier said that he was the holder of the land, and it was passed onto him after the death of his parents. 

 https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/eminent-personalities-call-for-meeting-against-visva-bharati-universitys-heckling-of-amartya-sen-516402