Kolkata:- Visva Bharati Vice-Chancellor Prof Bidyut Chakraborty apologized for his remark Tagore was “an outsider”. Tagore was the founder of Visva-Bharati in 1921 and it became a central university in 1951. Amid the row at Visva-Bharati over Poush Mela ground fencing, Chakraborty said a statement that Tagore had also come to Bolpur from outside to set up the institute. Outsiders were present during the construction of the boundary wall on Poush Mela ground, an action not in consonance with Tagore’s ideals of education in the lap of nature.
Mr. Chakraborty stood by his earlier comments that antisocial activities are being taken place on Poush Mela ground. Trouble had erupted at the central institute on August 17 after thousands of locals ransacked its property and tore down a gate to protest against the fencing work around Poush Mela ground. Several people also vandalized the construction equipment on the ground.
“I do sincerely apologize if my use of the outsider word with respect to Tagore has hurt anyone’s sentiment. I am deeply sorry. Yes, they are integral to Shantiniketan. And I had never meant anything else, But if you examine my entire statement closely, you will see I had just referred to a historical and geographical fact. Rabindranath Tagore and (his father) Devendranath Tagore had once stopped at this place many years back. They liked it and Shantiniketan came up afterward,” Chakraborty stated
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