The TMC continued to protest in Santiniketan over Visva-Bharati's eviction notice to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on Tuesday, which was the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.
Rabindra Bhavan, the heritage building that houses several objects associated with Tagore, remained closed as the varsity -- set up by the bard -- pointed to "unavoidable circumstances". Two cultural programmes to celebrate the day were also cancelled by the varsity amid the protest, even though the authorities cited "heatwave conditions".
The day began early with Visva-Bharati students singing the 'Baitalik' (prayer songs). A special prayer was also held at Udayan, the house in Santiniketan where Tagore had celebrated his last birthday in 1941. Vice Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty, students of Sangeet Bhavan and several faculty members participated in the programmes.
"Two other cultural programmes, supposed to be held in the open, were cancelled due to the heatwave condition, and those will be held within a month," Visva-Bharati spokesperson Mahua Banerjee told PTI.
Meanwhile, Visva-Bharati acting registrar Manabendra Saha wrote to the local administration, stating that the protest was disturbing the academic ambience of the campus, and was an attempt to influence the "eviction process and the judicial process". He urged the administration to take appropriate steps regarding the situation.
At the protest site, state minister Chandranath Sinha led the demonstration as cultural performances were held to mark the day. The demonstration began on Saturday on the direction of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Visva-Bharati sent Sen an eviction notice last month, stating that he was illegally occupying 0.13 acre land, a part of his 1.38-acre plot on which his ancestral house 'Pratichi' was built.
The economist moved Calcutta High Court, which issued a stay on the notice. Visva-Bharati is the sole central university of West Bengal and the prime minister is its chancellor. The university was founded by Tagore, Asia's first Nobel laureate. It was declared a central university and an institution of national importance by an Act of Parliament in 1951.
The land on which Sen's ancestral house stands was leased for 99 years to his father, Ashutosh Sen in 1943 by Rathindra Nath Tagore, the poet's son who was the then general secretary of Visva-Bharati.
