JOIN USMamata says BJP responsible for 'insulting' Amartya Sen
Perceived as an "insult" to veteran economist Amartya Sen, the claim by Visva-Bharati — a central university in Bengal’s Shantiniketan — that the Nobel laureate was in "unauthorised occupation" of a piece of land, backfired on Monday with the Trinamool seemingly scoring a political point over the BJP.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited Sen’s house Monday and handed over a copy of the official land record that counter-challenges the university’s claim. Banerjee blamed the BJP for the disrespect Sen has been subjected to, saying she has handed over the documents so that the BJP doesn't try to insult the economist in the future.
Addressing media representatives after meeting Sen, Banerjee said that she has handed over all land records to the economist that the state land department has found.
Recently, the university had communicated to Sen that he was in possession of 13 decimals (5662 square feet, approximately) of land, which is unauthorised and belongs to the university. This patch of land, however, is in addition to around 125 decimals of land “originally leased to late Ashutosh Sen on 27-10-1943 and mutated in your favour in 2006”, the university had stated in a letter. The university demanded that the piece of land (13 decimals) be handed over to it at the earliest.
"It’s affecting me because it irritates me a lot. Because I have done nothing to deserve it. It deals with a house that my father built…,” Sen had reacted, talking to DH last week.
"Whatever Amartya Sen has said is absolutely correct. Even the old records of 1956 mention the same thing, ie, 1.38 acres of land belongs to Amartya Sen,” Banerjee said.
"The thing is, we haven’t yet lost our spine. We will always stand up against those who disrespect our seniors. Such is the level of insult, that some Visva Bharati official has even questioned the authenticity of Amartya Babu’s Nobel Prize,” she said.