A former student of the Visva-Bharati University in Shantiniketan, West Bengal has filed a complaint with the police against Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty and two other officials, accusing them of causing "mental harassment" to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen over land eviction.
Trisha Rani Bhattacharya, the complainant, made allegations against Deputy Registrar Ashok Mahato and university spokesperson Mahua Bandyopadhay, apart from the VC in a letter to the Officer-in-Charge of Santiniketan police station in Birbhum district.
Bhattacharya took exception to the "verbal abuse of such a personality by calling him a land grabber and encroacher" and demanded strict action as per legal provisions, a PTI report stated.
"I am scared the continuing volley of attacks on Sen may inflict a big mishap on his life, as he is bound to feel anguished," she said in the letter.
PTI reported that the complainant later told the press that she should have lodged the complaint earlier. “The humiliation of a 90-year-old man by the university cannot be allowed to continue. I call upon all alumni members to stand by Sir Amartya Sen,” Bhattacharya said.
The background
Visva-Bharati University accused popular economist, Amartya Sen, of illegally occupying a piece of land on its campus.
In a fresh eviction order, the central varsity asked Sen to vacate by May 6 or within 15 days of the publication of the last order on April 19, the land allegedly occupied in an unauthorised manner. The institution said that it was in urgent need of getting control of encroachments and also needed to submit a report to the ministry as per government advisories and CAG reports.
“Amartya Kumar Sen and all concerned persons are liable to be evicted from the said premises if need be, by use of such force as may be necessary,” the notice released by the institution said.
“It is decided that 13 decimals of land having the dimension of 50 ft x 111 ft in the northwest corner of the scheduled premises is to be recovered from him. Thus, he can lawfully occupy 1.25 acres of land only, for the residual period of lease in the scheduled premises. He does not have the authority to occupy 1.38 acres of land in the scheduled premises," the notice said.
Nobel laureate Sen has repeatedly trashed the allegations.
Visva-Bharati SFI unit office-beater Somnath Sow said the students will do everything possible to protect Sen from “further ignominy”, added PTI.
