No name other than that of Tagore to remain on Santiniketan heritage plaque, says panel

 Visva-Bharati committee finalises texts in English, Hindi and Bengali; await Centre's approval

Sougata Mukhopadhyay, TT, Calcutta, 18.11.23 : 

One of the three controversial tablets put up at Santiniketan which is scheduled be replaced by the official heritage plaques approved by the Union education ministry: File

A six-member committee set up by Visva-Bharati to finalise the text which would be inscribed on the official plaques to commemorate the UNESCO-awarded heritage status to Santiniketan sent its proposal to the university’s interim vice chancellor Sanjoy Kumar Mallik on Saturday and confirmed that the inscription would bear no names other than that of Rabindranath Tagore, the founder of the institution.

Putting its finishing touches to the English, Hindi and Bengali versions which would simultaneously appear on the official plaques, the panel confirmed that, once formally approved by the varsity authorities and the Centre, it would only be a matter of days before the plaques replace the three controversial tablets put up during the tenure of the former VC Bidyut Chakraborty which omitted the name of Tagore but inscribed names of Chakraborty and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chancellor.

Union education ministry's suggestion on plaque earlier this week

The decisions were taken within nine days after Mallik took charge from Chakraborty amid the wide-scale criticism which the previous signage had sparked off.

Besides outrage from cross sections of Tagore admirers across the globe, sharp responses were voiced by Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee who, while hitting out at PM Modi, called the tablets “an arrogant display of self-absorbed narcissism”. She even gave a 24-hour deadline to remove the signage and, following Chakraborty’s choice to ignore that ultimatum, directed her party workers to hold protest demonstrations outside the university.

Governor CV Ananda Bose too had criticized the move stating there cannot be an instance where Tagore memory is obliterated or ignored.

The committee “mildly tweaked” the suggested English text sent by the Union education ministry earlier this week which then served as the original text for its subsequent translations into Bengali and Hindi. The committee held two back-to-back meetings this weekend to finish the task after it was set up on Thursday.

As per the Centre, the new plaque would have on its top the four-lion state emblem of India at the centre, the UNESCO Heritage status logo to its left and Visva-Bharati’s official logo on the right. Below it “WORLD HERITAGE SITE SANTINIKETAN” should be inscribed and followed by the first paragraph of the inscription: “Santiniketan has been inscribed upon the World Heritage List of the convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage. Inscription on this list confirms the universal value of a cultural or natural site which deserves protection for the benefit of all humanity.”

As a “Brief Description” of the site the plaque’s next para should read: “Established in rural West Bengal in 1901 by the great Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, Santiniketan was a cradle of learning and education firmly rooted in India’s classical traditions, aspiring to a concept of universal humanity.”

Two additional paras, the Union ministry has suggested, depicting the relevance of the establishment of Visva-Bharati in 1921 and the unique scholarship it offers and Santiniketam, Tagore’s abode of peace, continuing to promote “intercultural dialogue and artistic expression” are also supposed to be included in the plaque.

“We have made some minor modifications in the Union ministry’s text which was based on the Archaeological Survey of India’s dossier for the Unesco forming the background to the heritage tag. The vernacular translations have been finalised and sent to the vice chancellor,” said Nilanjan Bandyopadhyay, the special officer at Rabindra Bhavana and a member of the committee.

“The ministry was keen to have the text finalised without further delay and we should be replacing the previous tablets with the official plaques as soon as our drafts are approved,” Bandyopadhyay added.

Asked how many such plaques would be installed in Santiniketan in place of the three removed tablets, Bandyopadhyay said: “That call would be taken by Visva-Bharati authorities. But, to my mind, we should have some 10 plaques placed all over Santiniketan since the area is well spread out.”