Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen at his Bolpur residence Monday and handed over documents to him regarding land over which he had been sent notices by Visva-Bharati University.
Mamata also stated that legal action will be taken on the issue, while ordering ‘Z plus’ security to Sen. Visva-Bharati is a central university, and is unique in having the Prime Minister as its Chancellor. Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty said they would fight the case in court.
On January 24, the university authorities had issued a letter to Sen, accusing him of occupying excess land belonging to the university that had been leased to his father – at Shantiniketan in Bolpur in Birbhum district – and demanding that he hand it over. Earlier too, similar notices had been sent to him.
Mamata, who started her four-day tour of districts with the visit to Sen’s residence Monday evening – she will be travelling to Burdwan and Malda districts too – said: “Ora oshonman korche. Amar khub gaye lagche. Tai ami eshechi (They are insulting you. I was feeling very bad about it. That is why I came)… I made government officers survey and get the records. Now it is proved that it is your land. We have found the land records. Now, no one can question you. They (the university authorities) are lying.”
Hon’ble Chairperson Smt @MamataOfficial met with eminent personality and Nobel Laureate Shri Amartya Sen at his residence in Bolpur today.
We express our humble gratitude to him for his invaluable contributions toward the progress of society. pic.twitter.com/Mp7Gdb1glE
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) January 30, 2023
The CM said she would talk to the district magistrate regarding the legal recourse the government will take, while telling Sen: “I have been tolerating this disrespect towards you for a long time. Please do not be bothered about all this.”
She later ordered the officials present to give Sen Z-plus security, with a police camp near his residence.
Speaking to mediapersons later, Mamata talked of “saffronisation” of Visva-Bharati, saying the authorities should focus on running the university “smoothly” rather than “suspending students”. “I am sorry to say but there is saffronisation of Visva-Bharati.”
On the land row, the CM said: “Amartya Sen is a Nobel Laureate and is respected not just in Bengal but the world over… The university wrote that Sen has 1.25 acres of land, but after reading news reports, we surveyed and found out the truth. We have found records which say he has 1.38 acres. This proves Amartya Sen is right.”
Sen told mediapersons he was surprised by the CM’s efforts. “I am surprised that she looked for the old land records and had the zeal… such zeal in a political leader.” About Z-plus security, he said he did not know what it was, and could not comment on it.
In response to a question, Sen said he did not think the controversy would end despite Mamata giving him the land records. “Those who want to drive me away from my home, there is politics in their aim… I prefer a secular point of view. Those who indulge in communal politics cannot accept that.”
The latest notice to Sen had come soon after he stated in an interview to PTI that Mamata had all the makings of a prime minister. The TMC had linked the action against him to his support to the CM.
On Monday, Sen said he didn’t want to speculate on the 2024 electoral fight. “But there is a need for a fight to get rid of communal politics. In such a fight, there are reasons for us to join.”
In a press release on January 29, the university claimed that of 1,134 acres allotted to it, it had found 77 acres encroached in 2018, and reclaimed 15 acres. “The drive to evict illegal occupants started in response to an order of Government of India dated November 30, 2017,” it said.
As regards Sen, the release added: “The information and documents shared with Prof Sen vide our letters dated 24-01-2023 and 27-01-2023 make it amply clear that 1.38-acre land was never leased out to late Ashutosh Sen (Sen’s father). Only 1.25-acre land was leased out to him… Visva-Bharati… requests Prof Sen to do what is required to be done to protect his self-respect and the institution’s reputation.”
Visva-Bharati Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty told The Indian Express that they would fight the matter in court, and said they had the papers to prove their case. “If he (Sen) goes to court, it is good. He should submit all the documents. The issue will be cleared. There will be no disrespect to him or to us. We do not feel good about it either.”
On the CM’s move, Chakraborty said, “The land belongs to the university, not the state government. The land is under lease. It is not privately owned property. We can renew the lease or not renew the lease. But we renewed the lease in 2006. The land is in the name of his father Ashutosh Sen. That is why we asked for documents from him (Sen).”
