Visva Bharati teachers, students seek unconditional apology from Paul

Kolkata: Teachers and students of Visva Bharati have demanded unconditional apology from Agnimitra Paul, state president of BJP Mahila Morcha for her statement that flesh trade is being carried out at the Pous Mela Ground after dusk.

"This is an insult to the residents of Santiniketan and she should tender an unconditional apology," said the teachers and students of the varsity.

"The mela is being held at the venue from 1961 when the country was celebrating the birth centenary of Rabindranath Tagore. The ground is being used by morning and evening walkers and local people. It functions as the lungs of the area. How can the leader of a national party make such irresponsible remarks," asked the ashramites.

They said Paul had "echoed" the statement made by Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty some days ago. "If flesh trade is being carried out on the ground, then the Visva Bharati authorities should come up with a statement as to how many FIRs have been filed on the matter in the past two years since Chakraborty took over as the V-C. He is playing dirty politics and has converted the institution set up by Tagore to a den of politics."

Taking a U-turn, the varsity authorities decided to hold Pous Mela 2020 and urged people to donate money for the purpose. The authorities maintained that they will go ahead with putting up fences around the ground.

Reacting sharply to this, the teachers said the mela is being conducted by the trust set up by Tagore. The VB authorities have increased the rent of the stalls and have not returned the deposit money it took from the shopkeepers.

"It is unfortunate that the university authorities have not returned the deposit money," said the teachers alleging that this sum was being spent to put up the wall. They demanded that the authorities should come up with a statement regarding the money that has been deposited in the new account which was opened by Chakraborty.

Political experts maintain that the decision to suspend the Pous Mela has boomeranged as it did not go down well with the people. Fearing that BJP would do badly in the 2021 Assembly elections, the central BJP leadership has put pressure on the VB authorities who issued a press note on the matter as a face-saving gesture for the state BJP.