Trouble for Amartya Sen as Visva Bharati asks him to hand over ‘unauthorized’ land of his residence

Shantiniketan: The Visva Bharati University once again has written to Nobel laureate and Bharat Ratna Amartya Sen asking him to return the alleged ‘unauthorised’ land of his residence in Visva Bharati in Shantiniketan.

“It has been found from records and physical survey/demarcation that you are in unauthorised occupation of 13 decimals of land belonging to Visva Bharati... You are requested to hand over the said 13 decimals of land to the university at the earliest,” read the part of the letter.

It may be recalled that in January 2021, Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty of Visva Bharati claimed that Sen’s family has occupied space in the varsity campus ‘illegally’, to which Sen replied that the land was leased for a long time and it is nowhere near its expiry.

Lashing out at the Visva-Bharati for asking him to hand over parts of a plot he was allegedly occupying “unauthorisedly”” at Shantiniketan, Sen on Wednesday said he does not understand why the central university suddenly has become “so active” in trying to drive him out of that place.

A day after getting a letter from the varsity in this regard, he also said he does not understand “the politics” behind the move.

The noted economist asserted that most of the land he is holding in Shantiniketan was purchased from the market by his father in the 1940s while some other plots were taken on lease.

“I could not see any subtlety in their (university authorities') thinking. I also do not understand the politics behind this attitude of Visva-Bharati University,” he said.

Standing by the side of Sen, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier claimed that the Visva Bharati vice chancellor is ‘harassing’ Sen as the Nobel laureate criticises the Bharatiya Janata Party ideologies.