Latest news with #TagoreWeek
The Wire
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Wire
Viswa-Bharati Denies Permission for a Lecture on Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen
After the lecture was delivered at another venue, the university issued a notification removing the chairperson of the A.K. Dasgupta Centre, who was among the organisers of the event. New Delhi: Often at the centre of controversies, West Bengal's Visva-Bharati university has once again made headlines – this time for disallowing a lecture on Nobel laureate Amartya Sen from being held in its library auditorium. The lecture was organised by a Bengali little Magazine, Anustup, and was scheduled to take place on August 14. The lecture was to be delivered by renowned economist Jean Dreze, the Hindu reported. The magazine had recently published a special issue on Sen in collaboration with the university's Department of Economics and Politics and the A.K. Dasgupta Centre for Planning and Development. After the university's refusal, the lecture was held on the scheduled date in a private auditorium, the report said. 'Amartya Sen is a child of the Santiniketan library and of India's most illustrious scholars. It is startling that an event celebrating his work had to be shifted from the library to a local hall in Bolpur. So much for the freedom of expression,' Dreze told The Hindu. While Visva-Bharati PRO Atig Ghosh said that the lecture was cancelled as it overlapped with another heritage event being held at the university, Visva-Bharati professors said that there was no such overlap. 'Nobody is given permission to hold an event in the university exactly at the same time as a heritage event is taking place in the university. In this case, the Rabindra Saptaha lecture was scheduled to take place at Lipika Auditorium from 7 p.m. and no other overlapping programme could be permitted,' Ghosh said. However, the Rabindra Saptaha (or Tagore Week) had begun on August 8 after inauguration by Union Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar, Viswa-Bharati professors told the paper. 'The real reason for the refusal to grant the auditorium is that both Amartya Sen and Jean Drèze are regarded as eyesores by the BJP-led government at the Centre,' a professor, who did not want to be named, told the Hindu. It must be noted that right after Dreze's lecture, the university issued a notification removing the chairperson of the A.K. Dasgupta Centre, professor Apurba Kumar Chattopadhyay, who was among the organisers of the lecture. In 2023, the university had sent multiple notices to Sen, asking him to return a portion of land that the university claimed was illegally occupied by him. The university had also named him in a 2020 list of illegal plot holders within its premises. Sen had denied any wrong-doing and clarified that the land was leased out to his family for 100 years in the 1940s and some of it was also bought by his father from the market following all rules and regulations. 'I could not see any subtlety in their [university authorities'] thinking. I also do not understand the politics behind this attitude of Visva-Bharati University. This is my residence which was built on leased land from Visva-Bharati in the 1940s," Sen had said. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments. Advertisement
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Visva-Bharati refuses to allow lecture on Amartya Sen in its library
After a lull that included the appointment of a new fulltime Vice-Chancellor, the political atmosphere in Visva-Bharati appears to be heating up once again with the Rabindranath Tagore-founded institution not allowing a lecture on Nobel laureate Amartya Sen to be held in its library auditorium. The lecture, scheduled for August 14 by noted economist Jean Dreze, was organised by a Bengali little magazine called Anustup, which recently brought out a special issue on Prof. Sen, in collaboration with Visva-Bharati's Department of Economics and Politics, and the A.K. Dasgupta Centre for Planning and Development. Following the university's refusal to grant permission, the event was held, on the same day, at a private auditorium called Geetanjali. 'Amartya Sen is a child of the Santiniketan library and of India's most illustrious scholars. It is startling that an event celebrating his work had to be shifted from the library to a local hall in Bolpur. So much for the freedom of expression,' Mr. Dreze told The Hindu. On the event not being allowed in the university, Visva-Bharati PRO Atig Ghosh said: 'Nobody is given permission to hold an event in the university exactly at the same time as a heritage event is taking place in the university. In this case, the Rabindra Saptaha lecture was scheduled to take place at Lipika Auditorium from 7 p.m. and no other overlapping programme could be permitted.' But professors who were looking forward to the lecture being held in the university library said that the Rabindra Saptaha (or Tagore Week) was inaugurated on August 8 by Union Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar and that the event was in no way interfering with the ongoing heritage event. 'The real reason for the refusal to grant the auditorium is that both Amartya Sen and Jean Drèze are regarded as eyesores by the BJP-led government at the Centre,' a teacher said. What's surprising is that immediately after Mr. Drèze's speech, Visva-Bharati issued a notification removing Prof. Apurba Kumar Chattopadhyay, one of the organisers of the lecture, from his position as chairperson of the A.K. Dasgupta Centre. He had been appointed to the position on May 21. The order for his removal was issued immediately after the lecture. On August 6, following the controversy erupting from the letter of a Delhi Police officer who called Bangla a 'Bangladeshi language', the university issued a gag order reiterating that no one from the institution should speak to the media without the permission of the V-C or going through the PRO. This, too, has not gone down well with many in Visva-Bharati, who were hoping that such restrictions would ease under the new V-C.
