Kolkata: Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on Thursday said any controversy over the land row with Visva Bharati was “irrelevant”. While leaving Shantiniketan for abroad, Sen said that his father had willed it to his mother, and after her, he inherited Pratichi, his ancestral residence.
“If there are any questions, they have to be asked to the VB Vice-Chancellor,” Sen told reporters. Sen was scheduled to leave for the USA via Mumbai. The Department of Land and Land Reforms had registered the entire land in his name as per the will of his father late Ashutosh Sen, he added. “The land should have been in my name and BLL&RO registered the land in my name. BLL&RO had done this from their end.”
When asked whether he felt dejected that he had to leave Santiniketan with the issue unresolved, Sen said: “There is nothing to argue about as my father had written in his will that after my mother, I will inherit the land.”
The 1.38 decibel land of Pratichi was registered in the name of Amartya Sen by the West Bengal government. Sen was accused of occupying the land by VB authorities. The VB authorities had sent three letters and asked for the return of the land.