Visva-Bharati Plaque Row: Bengal Governor Meets VC, Seeks Explanation For Omission Of Tagore's Name

The plaques set up at several places in the central university campus to mark the UNESCO heritage status to Santiniketan did not bear the name of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, who set up the varsity.

Amid row over missing Rabindranath Tagore's name from plaques to mark the UNESCO heritage status to Santiniketan, West Bengal Governor C V Anand Bose, who is also the rector of the Visva-Bharati University met with the vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty on Friday and said that both discussed the issue and agreed that "Gurudev symbolises the best in culture and tradition."

"Yesterday itself, I discussed with the VC of the Visva-Bharati. He explained his position. We both reminded each other that Gurudev symbolises the best in culture and tradition... Visva-Bharti without Rabindranath Tagore is like Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark...," said the Governor, as reported by news agency ANI.

Sources in the Raj Bhavan told PTI that the Governor also sought an explanation from the VC on the issue after which Prof Bidyut Chakrabarty clarified that the text to be engraved on the plaque had been submitted to the Department of Archeology for approval.

The plaques set up at several places in the central university campus to mark the UNESCO heritage status to Santiniketan bore the names of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ex-officio Chancellor of the university, and Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty, but did not have the name of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, who set up the varsity.

This led to a backlash from political parties like the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. On Thursday, October 26, the Chief Minister slammed the varsity authorities for not inscribing the name of Tagore on plaques, and threatened her party workers would begin an agitation if it was not changed.

"It is only for Tagore that Santiniketan got the UNESCO tag and you have removed his name from the plaques. We were silent because of the Durga Puja celebrations. If you do not remove the plaques and put-up new ones with the Nobel Laureate's name by 10am tomorrow, our people will launch a demonstration holding Kobiguru's photos to their chests," Banerjee told reporters at a press conference in New Delhi.

TMC leaders and workers congregated near the university on Friday and demonstrated against the plaques which were earlier placed by the varsity authorities.

The Visva Bharati University Faculty Association (VBUFA), an organisation of a section of teaching staff also expressed their displeasure by calling it in an "insult of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore" in an email they wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Droupadi Murmu, who is the Visitor, and the West Bengal Governor.