Declaring Amartya Sen as illegal occupant in Santiniketan is an abuse of the powers vested in the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Leader of CPI Parliamentary Party, Binoy Viswam, said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.
He urged Mr. Modi to immediately intervene in the manner and ensure that Mr. Sen is treated with respect and dignity. “As the Prime Minister of India, your duty is to protect the values of the Constitution and work towards the betterment of every citizen of this country. For constitutional power and legal process to be abused in such a blatant manner by a functionary under the Central government’s control, demands that you immediately intervene and put a stop to such abuse,” Mr. Viswam wrote.
The Visva Bharati University’s estate office has prepared a list of illegal occupants. And as per them, Mr. Sen’s family home has encroached upon additional land apart from the one officially leased out to them.
Mr. Viswam said the action against Mr. Sen appears to be in a “direct response to his critique of the Central government and its policies”.
“This sort of abuse of power and legal process have become symbolic of the way people supporting your party conduct themselves in public life,” he wrote.
