West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asked state ministers to begin a sit-in outside Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's residence in Santiniketan in state's Birbhum district to protest against the Visva-Bharati's eviction notice, an official said, as reported by the news agency PTI.
During a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Banerjee asked MSME Minister Chandranath Sinha, the local MLA, to lead the protest, which will be joined by Education Minister Bratya Basu and Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim. She asked them not to move from the spot even if the central university authorities send bulldozers to take possession of the land.
Bauls and other folk artistes from the district must be involved in the demonstration, and various cultural programmes should be organised there, she told the ministers, PTI reported citing an official. The programme will also be joined by singer Kabir Suman and painter Subhaprasanna on May 6 and 7, the official said, quoting her. "The CM advised them not to move an inch even if Visva-Bharati sends bulldozers to take possession," he said, as quoted by PTI.
Banerjee had last week said that she would start a sit-in in Santiniketan over the issue. According Visva-Bharati had sent an eviction notice to Sen on April 19, asking him to vacate 13 decimals of the 1.38 acres of land of his residence within May 6.
The university has been claiming that Sen has 1.38 acres of land on the Santiniketan campus, which is more than his legal entitlement of 1.25 acres. The economist has earlier asserted that most of the land he is holding on the Santiniketan campus was purchased from the market by his father while some other plots were taken on lease. Set up in 1921 by Rabindranath Tagore, Visva-Bharati is West Bengal's only central university, and the prime minister is its chancellor.
According to PTI, Banerjee had handed over land-related documents to Sen during a visit to his residence in January when the Nobel laureate was at Santiniketan.