Visva-Bharati mends fences as Amartya Sen makes virtual comeback at varsity event

The presence of the economist at the second Ashok Rudra Memorial Lecture symbolised curtains down on the row between him and the varsity. Visva-Bharati authorities under the earlier vice-chancellor, Bidyut Chakrabarty had accused Sen of unauthorised occupation of a 13-decimal plot on the campus

Economist Prabhat Patnaik (wearing a red stole) being felicitated by an economics professor of Visva-Bharati, economics department, Pranab Kumar Chattopadhyay, at the lecture that Amartya Sen (file picture, right) attended virtually on Wednesday.: Picture by Amarnath Dutta

Snehamoy Chakraborty, TT, Calcutta, 11.04.24 : Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on Wednesday made his appearance at a Visva-Bharati event, albeit virtually, after a gap of about five years.

The presence of the economist at the second Ashok Rudra Memorial Lecture symbolised curtains down on the row between him and the varsity. Visva-Bharati authorities under the earlier vice-chancellor, Bidyut Chakrabarty had accused Sen of unauthorised occupation of a 13-decimal plot on the campus.

Sen's video message was played before the audience at the Central Library Hall. It became a talking point on the campus as the Nobel laureate had been, for some years, made a pariah by Chakraborty. The then VC had left no stone unturned to humiliate Sen, the most famous alumnus of the institution set up by Rabindranath Tagore.

In 2019, Sen was physically present in the first episode of the lecture instituted in the memory of Rudra, an eminent economist and a public intellectual. He was also scheduled to speak at the second edition of the lecture, scheduled in March 2020, but it was cancelled by the administration led by Chakrabarty.

Chakrabarty's term ended in November 2023.

The Visva-Bharati department of economics and politics, which launched the lecture series five years ago, retained the 2020 format and invited Marxist economist Prabhat Patnaik to deliver the lecture after Sen's brief opening remarks. Patnaik was supposed to attend the 2020 event that was cancelled.

Welcoming Patnaik, his student at the Delhi School of Economics, Sen did not comment directly about his harassment at the hands of the erstwhile administration but insinuated that many people, including some vice-chancellors, did not consider Santiniketan “a remarkable place.”

“It is a great privilege for me to have the opportunity to welcome Prabhat Patnaik to Santiniketan. Santiniketan is a remarkable town, not often recognised by vice-chancellors and others.... However, for common people like you and me, it is really a great opportunity to be here,” Sen said at the beginning of his 10-minute introduction.

The Nobel laureate economist recounted his association with Santiniketan where he was born and where he studied till he left for Calcutta as a student of economics in the erstwhile Presidency College. Sen also lavished praise on his student Patnaik, who delivered a lecture on “Employment and poverty under neo-liberal capitalism".

A professor of economics at the varsity said that the presence of Sen at Wednesday's programme was a welcome relief for the campus fraternity.

“The former VC (Chakrabarty) tried his best to keep Professor Sen away from all our activities.... The fact that the new administration allowed us to hold a programme with him and Professor Patnaik, who is known for his left--of-centre values, bears proof that Visva-Bharati is undoing the damage caused by Chakrabarty in the five years he was at the helm,” said Sudipta Bhattacharyya, a faculty member in the economics department.

Visva-Bharati served Sen multiple notices last year, followed by an eviction order asking him to vacate the land parcel that was part of his ancestral Santiniketan home Pratichi amid allegations that then central university administration had chosen to harass the economist as he was a fierce critic of the Narendra Modi government.

A Birbhum court, however, freed Sen from the charges by setting aside the Visva-Bharati’s eviction order on January 31 this year.

Visva-Bharati witnessed a series of controversies over charges of saffronising the campus during the tenure of Chakrabarty.

Several teachers and employees, who were voices of dissent against the alleged wrongdoings of the former vice-chancellor, faced disciplinary actions. However, after the completion of his tenure, the Centre appointed a varsity professor, Sanjoy Kumar Mallik, as the interim vice chancellor.