BJP should not insult him like this: Mamata Banerjee backs Amartya Sen amid land grab allegations
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has come out in support of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen amid the allegations of land grabbing against him. The CM, who met Amartya Sen at his ancestral house in Birbhum on Monday, accused the BJP of trying to insult the veteran economist.
“A letter was sent by Visva Bharati in which Amartya Sen was accused of encroaching 13 decibel university land and asked for its return. I went through the records and asked officers to find out. We have dug out original land records,” said Mamata Banerjee after personally handing over the state government land records to the Nobel laureate.
“Why is such a person being insulted? Such a stalwart. Why is this attempt to malign him? I want Visva Bharati to run properly instead of attempts to saffronisation,” she added.
The chief minister said her government will decide the next course of legal action once she is back in Kolkata.
The Visva Bharati University has accused Amartya Sen’s family of being in illegal possession of land on the Santiniketan campus. On January 27, the university asked him to immediately hand over parts of a plot he was allegedly occupying in an “unauthorised manner” at Santiniketan.
Amartya Sen, on the other hand, claims that most of the land he holds on the campus was purchased from the market by his father while some other plots were taken on lease.
After the meeting, CM Mamata Banerjee also ordered the setting up of a police camp outside Amartya Sen’s residence in Birbhum.
“I respect Shantiniketan. Will it remain peaceful or will it be destroyed? I appeal to the Union education ministry to take note. Did Tagore envisage this Visva Bharati? Now the university functions like an island, disconnected from rest of Bengal. Those who insult Amartya Sen, must remember they will have to bow down and apologise one day,” Mamata Banerjee said.
“Where is the real Nobel medal of Tagore? They should first answer that,” she added.
Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel medal was stolen from Visva Bharati and despite a CBI probe, the original could not be found.
Mamata Banerjee also hit out at Visva Bharati Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty for his allegations against Amartya Sen.
“Is he worthy of being the V-C of Visva Bharati? He is attempting to saffronise the university. But he has no right to insult someone,” the CM said.
