'Be Magnanimous, Not Just to Loyalists': Visva Bharati VC In Scathing Letter To West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

An explosive letter mentioning the recent case involving Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra and the arrest of party leaders has sparked a dispute between the Visva Bharati administration and the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal.

In his letter to the Chief Minister, Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty included political statements that were unrelated to Visva-Bharati.

This was in response to Banerjee's objection to a plaque that did not mention Rabindranath Tagore's name at Shantiniketan.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) said that the letter is an attempt to earn brownie points from the central government as Chakraborty is seeking an extension.

Shantiniketan, the location of Visva-Bharati founded by the Nobel laureate Tagore over a century ago, has recently been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

However, a controversy arose when the plaque unveiled to celebrate this recognition allegedly omitted Tagore's name while including the names of the Vice Chancellor and the Prime Minister.

Banerjee criticised the "narcissistic display of arrogant self-exhibitionism", stating that it insults Tagore and diminishes the anti-colonial heritage created by our Nation's founding fathers.

"This insults Tagore and belittles the anti-colonial heritage-creating efforts of our Nation's founding fathers. The central government will be well advised to remove this narcissistic display of arrogant self-exhibitionism forthwith, and to give Gurudev the tribute that the country owes to him," Banerjee had said.

The Vice Chancellor responded by stating that they are following the ASI instructions for preparing the plaque.

"We need to follow the ASI instructions while preparing the plaque and we are doing it, the result of which will soon be visible," the VC said in the letter.

He further urged Banerjee to be magnanimous and acknowledge that she is the Chief Minister not only for her loyal supporters but also for those who may not always agree with her.

"Madam, please be magnanimous because you are as much a Chief Minister of your loyalists as others who may not always be your sycophants...A megalomaniac Rajya Sabha member of your political party tried to gain this recognition and the then Prime Minister also tried without, of course, success," Chakraborty said, NDTV reported.

He went further to defend his administration and said, "We have also here in the campus competent individuals who are completely different from the sycophants surrounding you...The Hon'ble Prime Minister is our Hon'ble Chancellor and his role in getting this World Heritage tag cannot be gauged in any of the available yardsticks."

Visva-Bharati stands as the sole central university with the Prime Minister serving as its chancellor.

Chakraborty also brought up the situation of former Trinamool ministers in jail and mentioned Mahua Moitra, who is currently under investigation by the Ethics Committee of Parliament for accepting gifts allegedly in exchange for allowing a businessman to draft questions on her behalf.

"Two of your senior ministers are in jail; some of your trusted aides (even from Birbhum) in jail, including in Tihar jail in Delhi. Your most vocal member of parliament is being charged with activities which have already drawn the parliamentary ethics committee to examine the issue," the letter read.

The Vice Chancellor said that Visva-Bharati has successfully eliminated negative influences engaged in activities that contradict the institution's values.

"Visva-Bharati was a nursery of corruption. By dint of hard work, it has now changed, and we are sure, in course of time, we will see the results," he added.

Chakraborty's letter also addressed the matter of a road that runs through the university but is currently under the possession of the government.

"A face-to-face dialogue with us will give you an opportunity to see the other side of the narrative," he said.

The Vice-Chancellor had earlier clashed with the Chief Minister over the property dispute between Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and the university.