Visva-Bharati Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty’s tenure, marked by a prolonged confrontation with his detractors at Santiniketan, comes to an end on November 8 on the same confrontational note, even though Prof. Chakrabarty claimed that he enjoyed his term at the institution founded by poet Rabindranath Tagore.
“I enjoyed every bit of my tenure as Visva-Bharati’s Vice-Chancellor,” Prof. Chakrabarty told The Hindu on November 7, within an hour of sending a long, caustic letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had been critical of many of his actions as the V-C. There are no signs, so far, of him getting an extension.
Visva-Bharati, 160 km from Kolkata, is run by the Central Government; in fact, it is the only Central university in West Bengal. Unlike in other universities, its Chancellor is the Prime Minister of India. Prof. Chakrabarty, who took charge in November 2018, has often been accused of promoting the right-wing in Santiniketan. He has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi on many occasions, especially giving him the credit for UNESCO’s recent recognition of Santiniketan’s heritage status.
