The Visva-Bharati University Faculty Association (VBUFA) has now written to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to remove Vice-Chancellor of Visva-Bharati University, Prof Bidyut Chakrabarty, from his post. The letter dated Wednesday, October 18, highlights that the Calcutta High Court has already delivered an order to remove Chakrabarty.
The call for the VC's removal dates back to 2021 when the faculty members of the English Department of VBU held a protest. On Chakrabarty's orders, three professors were then placed in confinement, which was actively opposed by Manas Maity, a professor from the Department of Physics. He took action by involving the police and securing a release for the detainees. In response, the VC initiated disciplinary proceedings against Prof Maity.
"Professor Manas Maity, an esteemed Physics professor, played a significant role as a leading scientist in the prestigious international CERN Project. When Manas protested the confinement of English Department faculty members by Bidyut Chakrabarty in March 2021, he was promptly removed from his position as head and later suspended. Bidyut Chakrabarty wrote a letter to the DST authority urging them to halt the prestigious project. Manas Maity took the matter to the Court for justice," reads VBUFA's letter.
According to the association, the high court verdict mentioned that the VC's actions disclosed a biased mindset which was unbecoming of the head of the university. Later, on February 17, 2023, Justice Abhijit Ganguly observed that Chakrabarty should be removed.
"In view of the observation of the Hon'ble High Court, we earnestly appeal before Your Authority to remove Bidyut Chakrabarty from the position of Vice-Chancellor of Visva Bharati immediately and to initiate an investigation into his misdeeds and financial irregularities," VBUFA appeals to Pradhan.
