Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee handed over documents to prove land ownership to Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen. "Now they can't question you. It is proved that this is your land," she declared.
Sen lives at his home in Shantiniketan and he has received multiple notices from Visva Bharati University. On Monday, Banerjee visited him at home and said he now has documents to prove his ownership. She added that the government would explore legal action against the Visva Bharati University. "I came here to give these land records because I cannot take this insult to Amartya Sen anymore. I have had enough of this. What they are saying is completely wrong."
Dr Sen thanked the CM and said she came with the land records and researched the details. It was a pleasant surprise for me. But it is quite natural for a politician to delve into the details. He added that those who are trying to take away his home will find another way to get back at him.
"I don't think it will end here. Those trying to take away my home because of ideological differences would find another way to get back at me. I was born and brought up in a secular atmosphere and believe in secularism. Those who indulge in communal politics don't like such views preaching secularism," said the economist to PTI.
The university has been accusing the economist of illegally occupying its land. The university has claimed that the economist's father Ashutosh Sen was given a lease of 1.25 acres, but he had occupied 1.38 acres. Visva Bharati sent two letters in three days last week asking Dr Sen to immediately hand over the land he is "occupying in an unauthorised manner".
He received the latest notice after stating that Mamata Banerjee has the makings of a prime minister but it has not yet been established that she "can pull the forces of public dismay against the BJP in an integrated way to make it possible for her to have the leadership to put an end to the fractionalisation in India."
Visva Bharati is a central university headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Chancellor and its Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty has made remarks questioning the Nobel Prize to Amartya Sen. The West Bengal state government has accused him of acting on the orders of BJP-led Centre and "saffronising" the university founded by Rabindranath Tagore in Santiniketan. She also alleged that the university is hounding Sen because of ideological differences and critical remarks about the BJP.