Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has written to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee thanking her for the support on the recent controversy over Visva-Bharati, allegedly including him in the list of people who have illegally occupied land.
“I am very happy to get your wonderfully supportive letter. I am not only most touched but also very reassured that despite the busy life you have to lead, you can find time reassuring people under attack,” Professor Sen wrote in a letter to the Chief Minister. He expressed his deep appreciation of Ms. Banerjee’s letter to him.
“Your strong voice, along with your full understanding of what is going on, is, for me, a tremendous source of strength,” Professor Sen wrote in the letter dated December 27. The letter was made public by the Chief Minister’s Office on December 27.
‘Political matter’
On December 26, he broke his silence on the issue and described the development a “political matter”, adding that if the Vice Chancellor of Visva-Bharati, Bidyut Chakraborty, felt happy to take part in such political matters, then there was nothing to be done.
On December 25, Ms. Banerjee wrote to Professor Sen, expressing solidarity with him against the “bigotry of the majoritarians in this country,” and assured her support to him in the “battle that have made you an enemy of these forces of untruth”.
A section of intellectuals held protests in Kolkata on December 27 on the treatment meted to Professor Sen by the Visva-Bharati administration. The State BJP leadership had said that they respect him but he should not appear to be the spokesperson of a political party.
