BJP trying to erase Tagore’s legacy because of his ideology, alleges TMC

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of attempting to erase Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s legacy and claimed that the saffron party was doing it because their beliefs clashed with the poet’s ideology.

“Being a Brahma, Rabindranath was never overtly religious. He did not believe in idol worship although his works are full of imageries on religious practices and cultures. His philosophy clashes with the beliefs of the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS),” TMC Rajya Sabha member and former Prasar Bharati CEO, Jawhar Sircar, said on Tuesday.

He was commenting on the row over the absence of Tagore’s name on the plaques installed by Visva-Bharati university on its campus in Birbhum district. The plaques, which mark the inclusion of Santiniketan in the UNESCO world heritage list, bear the names of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the university’s acharya (chancellor) and vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty, but don’t mention Tagore, who founded the university.

“Tagore was always in favour of universalism. He wrote against parochial nationalism. He kept his distance from the concept of God and never projected himself as a Hindu. The RSS and the BJP don’t recognise the Brahma movement. If they did, they would have celebrated the 250th birth anniversary of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, India’s greatest social reformer and founder of the Brahma Samaj, last year,” Sircar said.

TMC state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar said, “Visva-Bharati is not a place for politics but as a stooge of the BJP and RSS, Chakrabarty has done everything to help the saffron camp erase Tagore’s legacy. He stopped Basanta Utsav which coincides with Holi and also the annual Pous Mela (fair). Both were started by Tagore. He started delivering political lectures at the prayer hall. Bengal will not forget these. The BJP will pay the price in the coming elections.”

On Monday, the Visva-Bharati had issued a statement saying that many plaques installed on campus in the past also did not mention Tagore.

The plaque at Bichitra (one of the old buildings on the campus) bear the name of the then chancellor and prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and the plaque at Bhasha Bhawan bear the name of the then President Pranab Mukherjee, said the statement issued by university spokesperson Mahua Banerjee.

“No matter how much the followers of Rabindranath may shout, nobody can change the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the current chancellor and Bidyut Chakrabarty is the vice-chancellor. Isn’t it foolish to claim that these two names on the plaque are irrelevant?” she said.

Earlier in October, she had told the media that the plaques were put up temporarily and permanent ones would be installed once Visva-Bharati gets the text of the content from UNESCO and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

HT tried to get a comment from Dr Alok Tripathi, additional director general (archeology), ASI, but he was busy in a meeting in Delhi.

Sudipta Bhattacharya, an economics professor and president of Visva Bharati University Faculty Association, countered the university.

“The plaques mentioned in the statement were installed to mark the inaugurations of those buildings. The plaques we are talking of now mark the UNESCO status for entire Santiniketan. Only the ignorant draw such foolish comparisons,” he said.

However, Banerjee clarified, “The vice-chancellor’s tenure ends tomorrow. The statement we issued does not say that the plaques will not be replaced. People are making their own interpretations.”

The V-C was not available for his comment.

Visva-Bharati has been in the news since 2018 when Chakrabarty took over as vice-chancellor. The campus has witnessed a number of agitations following disciplinary action against teachers and students who were later granted relief by the Calcutta high court, where more than 150 cases filed against Visva-Bharati are pending.

Chakrabarty has also drawn flak from internationally acclaimed academicians for accusing Nobel laurate and Bharat Ratna awardee Amartya Sen of illegally occupying 13 decimals of the 1.38 acres of leased land covered by his ancestral property on campus.

Chakrabarty invited more criticism on Tuesday by writing an open letter to chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The TMC alleged that the five-page letter made sarcastic remarks about CM’s writings and paintings.

Though Bengal BJP leaders initially backed the vice-chancellor on every issue, the controversial plaques have apparently caused a divide among them.

Last week, Suvendu Adhikari, leader of the opposition in the state assembly, said: “Rabindranath lives in the heart of Bengal. The vice-chancellor should stop being stubborn. If he has made a mistake, he should rectify it.”

Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson, Samik Bhattacharya, continued to support Chakrabarty on Tuesday saying Adhikari expressed his personal opinion.

“The TMC has lost all credibility. Nobody in Bengal believes what it says. Does Mamata Banerjee carry her identity cards to prove that she is the chief minister? Tagore does not require plaques to announce his existence,” Bhattacharya said.