Mamata threatens protests if Tagore’s name is not included in VB plaque

The Visva Bharati University authorities say the plaques are temporary and will be replaced as soon as the ASI hands over formal plaques to the University

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. | Photo Credit: DEBASISH BHADURI

The controversy over installation of plaques at Visva-Bharati University has turned into a full blown political war with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee threatening protests if the name of Rabindranath Tagore is not included in the installation by Friday.

Controversy first erupted when Visva Bharati put up marble plaques commemorating UNESCO’s ‘World Heritage Site’ title that bore the names of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is also chancellor, and vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty, but did not mention Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

“It is only because of Rabindranath Tagore that Santiniketan got the UNESCO tag. We were silent because of the Durga Puja. If you do not remove the plaques and put-up new ones with the Nobel Laureate’s name by 10 am tomorrow, our people will launch a demonstration holding Kobiguru’s photos to their chests,” the Chief Minister told journalists.

The Visva Bharati University authorities have called the plaques temporary and the crisis unwanted.

Plaques will take a year

“These will be replaced as soon as ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) hands over formal plaques to us. What the ASI gives us will have to get UNESCO approval, which is likely to take time, maybe a year. It is unlikely what the ASI gives us will bear any person’s name, because that’s not how UNESCO usually describes a heritage site,” senior Visva-Bharati official told The Hindu on Wednesday.

On September 17, Santiniketan, a town set up by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. UNESCO also credits “renowned poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore” for establishment of Santiniketan which is distinct from the “prevailing British colonial architectural orientations of the early 20th century and of European modernism”, and represents approaches toward a pan-Asian modernity.

Previously the Visva Bharati administration and Trinamool leadership were at odds over the varsity’s notice to Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen asking him to vacate a portion of land on which his house is constructed. The central university administration is embroiled in a legal tussle with Prof Sen. The administration claims that the land in question was illegally occupied.