Santiniketan Griha ( house), one of the oldest building inside the Visva-Bharati University campus. (For representational purpose)
Credit: iStock Photo
Officials, faculties, staff, and students at Visva-Bharati University in West Bengal, on Monday, jointly sat for a protest hunger strike, after a local newspaper – the university alleges – published news without authentication.
"Visva-Bharati strongly condemns the news published in the local newspaper which is based on some anonymous posts in the social media whose authenticity was not verified by the concerned news agency (sic),” a release shared by the university stated. The university added: “Visva-Bharati considers this not as an individual event but as the initiation of subsequent disastrous impacts which may harm the career and identity of the faculties as well as the students.”
The hunger strike took place in the Sangeet Bhavana campus, from 8am to 5pm. “Principal, HODs directors, faculties, officials, staff, students participated in great numbers,” an official told DH. "The normal activities were not hampered," the official said. The silent protest, the university stated, is “against these activities which are continuously going on in the social media and are being used by the news agency to ruin the culture, tradition and image of Visva-Bharati in the public domain”.
Bidyut Chakrabarty, the vice chancellor has "decided to remain silent during this period”, to “reinforce the voice of protest", the statement added.