Nobel laureate Amartya Sen moved the Calcutta High Court, appealing against a notice of the Visva-Bharati University that asked him to vacate 13 decimal acres of land at his Santiniketan residence by 6 May. The central university, which claimed that the 13 decimal acres of land are under the “illegal occupation” of Sen, said that it would evict the economist if he fails to vacate it within the deadline. The matter will be heard by a bench headed by Justice Bibhas Ranjan De.
In his petition, the economist argued that in October 1943, the then Visva-Bharati general secretary Rathindranath Tagore had given 1.38 acres of land for a lease of 99 years to his father Ashutosh Sen, who later built ‘Pratichi’. Sen had earlier moved a court in Suri against the eviction notice, but the court set 15 May as the date of hearing, well after the university’s deadline to vacate the land.
Meanwhile, Visva-Bharati has written to the Birbhum district administration to take steps to prevent protests over the issue around the varsity campus. On Tuesday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked state ministers to begin a sit-in demonstration outside Sen’s house to protest against the eviction order.
Apprehending violence during a proposed rally organised by “some intellectuals” before the ancestral house of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen in Santiniketan on Friday, the Visva-Bharati University has requested the local district administration to check that there is no “breach of peace” on the campus. Visva-Bharati spokesperson Mahua Banerjee said that the institute has sent a letter to the Sub-Divisional Officer of Bolpur in West Bengal’s Birbhum district stating that no permission had been sought from the university for taking out a march on 5 May on the Amartya Sen land issue.
The varsity authorities said they have come to know that the rally will culminate before ‘Pratichi’, the ancestral house of Sen, which falls within or is contiguous to the campus area.