Visva Bharati University to ask for CBI probe into August 17 vandalism, hold 12-hour fast to protest

A day after vandalism forced its closure, the Visva Bharati University on Tuesday stated that it will request for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the August 17 violence. In an official statement, the university also said that it will sit on a 12-hour fast as a mark of protest. "We will have 12 hours long fast as a mark of protest against the vandalism that the miscreants have committed on 17th August 2020 in the campus," read the statement.

The heritage university founded by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore in West Bengal's Santiniketan was shut down indefinitely on August 17 (Monday) following violent protests against Visva Bharati's decision to construct a boundary wall around the venue of Poush Mela, a prestigious annual cultural event that started more than a century ago. In its statement on Tuesday, the university confirmed that the construction of the boundary wall around Poush Mela grounds will continue.

Speaking on the closure of the university, the statement read, "Unless the miscreants who committed the vandalism with TMC leaders at the lead are booked and until we are at ease on the campus through the creation of conditions in which the members of Visva-Bharati Parivar will be absolutely free from bodily-harm and humiliation perpetrated by outsiders instigated by unforeseen forces, Visva-Bharati will remain closed."

It added, "So long as we feel that we are not safe in the campus and also our residence, the university shall remain closed with the exception of the admission process, examination process, (if it is possible to organize these within the UGC-stipulated directions) and other essential services."

Condemning the West Bengal Police's inaction, it said that they were intimated well in advance. "We condemn the police inaction despite having intimated well in advance the DM and SP of Birbhum, CS, Home Secretary of the State of West Bengal and the PS to West Bengal Chief Minister Gautam Sanyal.

It added, "Furthermore unless the police withdraws the false FIRs slapped on the Vice-Chancellor and other university officials, there shall exist a scary environment of fear in which everyone of Visva-Bharati Parivar, including the officials, shall not be free from the threat of humiliation and violence. (even to the extent of being liquidated, as some of the colleagues apprehend)."

"So, we request the State Home Ministry to withdraw the FIRs immediately to restore the feeling of being safe on the campus while being engaged in academic pursuits and other related activities. This shall be supportive of protecting and expanding Visva-Bharati's ashramite traditions that started unfolding with the foundation of the University in 1921 by one of the greatest thinkers of the last century, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore," it added.

The statement also said, "We condemn the vandalism that took place for three hours at the behest of a people's representative MLA Shri Naresh Bauri and two administrators of the Municipality (Shri Sukanta Hazra and Omor Sekh) appointed by the State Government along with many others in the campus of Visva-Bharati on 17 August 2020 between 9-30 am and 12-30 pm."

"We condemn the selective brutal attack on Prof. Biplab Loho Choudhury of the CJMC yesterday (17/08) in the evening at his residence. We demand that the police should book the perpetrators," it stated. 

The university is in dark about the fate of the several FIRs lodged by the university since August 15, said the statement.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on August 17 had said that she doesn't want any construction to take place at Visva Bharati, asking the police to convene a meeting with the stakeholders in this regard. She had said, "Visva Bharati is a central university. I don't want any construction there which will spoil nature's beauty. I request the vice-chancellor to consult the DM and SP. There should no such things in Bengal which will destroy the culture and heritage of Bengal."