Visva-Bharati's 'political' attack on CM Mamata Banerjee provocative and shameful, ex-VCs & students slam authority

Former vice-chancellors and Vishva-Bharati ashramites on Thursday slammed the brazen political statement issued by the university on Wednesday evening against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party, calling it "provocative", "disgusting" and "disgraceful". Banerjee did not refer to the university's statement on Thursday but promised to stand by Visva-Bharati students and professors. 

"It is unbelievable that a university has issued such a provocative and politicized statement where it has compared the roles of a chief minister and prime minister. It is a shameful act to criticize the highest post of the state government. Do they have the right to discuss these things publicly and publish this kind of statement? An academic institution should focus on excellence and research work," said Swapan Kumar Dutta, who served as VB vice-chancellor between 2016 and 2018. Dutta added that such a statement could not have been issued without the direction of the vice-chancellor.

Supriyo Tagore, the great-grandson of Rabindranath Tagore's elder brother Surendranath, said he did not remember such a statement ever being issued. "How can a university criticize a chief minister publicly? Visva-Bharati carries the legacy of Rabindranath Tagore and it is not the culture of this institution," he said.

Ashramite Swapan Kumar Ghosh, a former librarian at the university, wondered how Visva-Bharati was "being guided by the PM" (as mentioned in the press statement) rather than the values and teachings of Tagore.