A section of the faculty at West Bengal's Visva Bharati University has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the "deterioration of atmosphere and culture" at the University.
The Prime Minister is the Chancellor of the University, which was founded by Rabindranath Tagore in West Bengal's Shantiniketan. The University completed 100 years this year.
"In the past few years, it has become a trend to abuse, insult, and even manhandle faculty members, make them hostages and restrict their movement, which is often orchestrated by a particular group of students, who unfortunately are supported by a section of our own association", said the letter, which was also released to the media.
"We are also witnessing a new political culture emerging in Visva Bharati where senior faculty are staging protests with students where they too are engaging in malpractices like making derogatory remarks against the institution, office bearers, other ideological groups etc.", the letter further said.
The section of faculty also condemned the gherao of the Vice Chancellor's residence in August 2020. It also condemned the protests against the VC's appointment and pointed out how those who were protesting were roaming around with the VC after his appointment.
The letter comes in the context of a leaked audio recording of VC Bidyut Chakraborty where he can be heard saying that he will close down the university. The clip surfaced in the face of protests by students and members of the faculty against the Vice Chancellor.
“An officially released press brief with Visva Bharati logo containing 179 signatories raises a big question about how far these signatures are voluntary in nature. Even if voluntary, 179 out of 1,400 staff members is a small section, where again only a handful of faculty members predominantly associated with the administration are signatories and rest are non-teaching staff. Everyone knows who has vitiated the Visva Bharati atmosphere by threatening to close the university and abused the faculty members in filthy language,” a professor associated with Visva Bharati University Faculty Association (VBUFA) told The Hindustan Times.
PM Modi addressed Visva Bharati's centenary celebrations on 24 December 2020.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)