Kolkata, Nov 16 (The Street Press India) – According to a university source, on Thursday The Centre government has told Visva Bharati University to change the plaques that caused issues. These plaques were about UNESCO giving Santiniketan the World Heritage Site award.
The education ministry has instructed the university to take down the plaques and replace them with new ones featuring the name of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, as per the source.
Visva Bharati spokesperson Mahua Bandyopadhyay informed PTI, “We cannot confirm anything about the plaques unless we have a written communique from the Union education ministry.” Following Santiniketan receiving the UNESCO tag on September 17, three plaques appeared across the campus, featuring the names of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former VB vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty but not mentioning Tagore’s name, the founder of Santiniketan and Visva Bharati. This sparked protests from students, faculty, and political parties.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on October 26, urged Visva Bharati to swiftly replace the plaques, warning of potential indefinite protests by her party activists on the campus if the changes were not made promptly.
The protests came to an end when Chakrabarty’s five-year term concluded on November 8. Kala Bhavan principal VC Sanjoy Kumar Mallik assumed the role of officiating VC.
Upon assuming the role, Mallik assured reporters that he would uphold the ideals and values cherished by Tagore in the university’s operations.
