The ongoing property dispute between Visva-Bharati University (VBU) and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen has escalated as intellectuals and students gathered on the campus on Friday, May 5, to protest. Despite police complaints by VBU about protests in support of Sen, demonstrators congregated outside his residence, Pratichi, which is at the centre of the controversy that led to the university issuing an eviction notice to the laureate.
Moreover, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has reportedly cautioned the university against enforcing the eviction order on Sen, warning, "If you touch Amartya Sen's house, you don't know what I can do," as per media reports.
According to reports, the protests at Sen's residence also included members of the Committee for Protection of Social Dignity, as well as various artists and well-known figures from Bengal's civil society. Additionally, Mamata Banerjee has instructed her party leaders to continue demonstrating outside Pratichi until May 9, which is the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, the founder of VBU. The Visva-Bharati Banchao Committee has also filed a complaint with the Shantiniketan Police station, yesterday, May 5, accusing Bidyut Chakrabarty, Vice-Chancellor, of attempting to bring in external agitators to disrupt the peace on campus in the midst of the ongoing demonstrations.
According to VBU, Sen has been allegedly occupying 13 decimals of the land of the university in an unauthorised manner. On the other hand, Sen has vehemently denied the allegations and maintained that while VBU had leased 1.25 acres of land to his father for a specific period, the contentious 13 decimals of land were purchased by his father, and he possesses all the necessary documents to prove the same. The university’s moves against Amartya Sen have been marred by allegations of political vendetta. As a constant critic of the Central government, Sen has been at the receiving end of this land dispute since 2020, despite refutation by both Mamata Banerjee and himself.