Controversy After Visva-Bharati Installs Plaques Naming Modi, VC But Leaving Out Tagore
23 October 2023 | The Wire
The plaque. Photo: X/@jawharsircar
New Delhi: Plaques installed in West Bengal’s Visva-Bharati university to mark the varsity being declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site have courted controversy for carrying the names of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is the chancellor of the university, and vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty, but making no mention of founder Rabindranath Tagore.
Three such plaques have been installed at the university, The Hindu quoted a Visva-Bharati spokesperson as saying. Visva-Bharati is a central university.
A section of faculty members as well as leaders of the opposition have raised their voice against this development.
“UNESCO specifically said they are honouring Rabindranath Tagore and his unique legacy by declaring Santiniketan as a World Heritage Site. — A megalomaniac VC and his boss seem to think UNESO is honouring them!!” TMC MP Jawhar Sircar said on X (formerly Twitter).
“Does Modi ji think he is bigger than Tagore? He can grow a long beard before the Bengal elections, but he can never appropriate the legacy of Tagore,” Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed said.