Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said Thursday she was not invited to the centenary celebrations of Visva Bharati. Mamata Banerjee alleged that the authorities Visva Bharati had ‘forgotten’ to invite her.
Banerjee made the allegations while addressing a press meet here. She said that those who are currently at the helm of the university are not integral to carrying forward Tagore’s legacy. She also asserted that none of them can unsettle the 100-year-old institute’s glorious tradition.
“No, I can’t recall having received any invitation to the function. I, however, posted on Twitter that Visva Bharati evokes a sense of pride having completed 100 years of establishment,” she said.
“Yesterday they (Visva Bharati authorities) sent me a message. They requested me to give them some time during my visit to Bolpur December 28 and 29. I told them I have five-six programmes lined up during my one-and-half-day visit. But no, they didn’t invite me to the centenary functions today,” the West Bengal Chief Minister asserted.
She was asked to comment on a controversy doing the rounds over Nobel laureate Amartya Sens age-old property at Santiniketan. Banerjee said he is being subjected to vicious attacks because of his ‘anti-BJP stance’.
Several media reports have said the varsity authorities have claimed that Sen had been illegally occupying a plot at Santiniketan. It is on the same plot where his house ‘Pratichi’ stands.
“I have immense respect for Amartya da. Do you believe Amartya Sen can occupy land? I offer my apology to Amartya da on behalf of Bengal,” Banerjee said.
“They (BJP) think they can insult the luminaries of Bengal like Sen just as they have been insulting me. They are wrong. People of the state won’t accept this,” she added.
Banerjee said she will protest against the insult meted out to Sen during her rally at Bolpur, December 29. She urged the intellectuals in the state to also do the same.
Mamata alleged that the BJP is ‘changing history’. “One of the party’s leaders has said that Rabindranath Tagore was born in Santiniketan. The person has no idea that the bard was born at Jorasanko in Kolkata. Tagore founded the Visva Bharati many years later. BJP is changing history and geography,” alleged Banerjee.
