Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen has written to West Bengal Chief Minister referring to her as “Dear Mamata”. The letter was a way to write back and thank her for supporting people like him who are under attack.
In a short letter sent to Banerjee by email, Sen wrote, “I am very happy indeed to get your supportive letter. I am not only most touched, but also very reassured that despite the busy life you have to lead, you can find time for reassuring people under attack. Your strong voice, along with your full understanding of what is going on, is, for me, a tremendous source of strength.”
On Friday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote a letter to Sen and slammed the BJP for levelling baseless allegations against him. “We all salute Amartya Sen. Just because he isn’t inclined towards BJP’s ideology, they are levelling such allegations against him.” Mamata had said.
This comes after a letter sent by Visva-Bharati University Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty to the West Bengal government earlier this week and named the Nobel laureate among those who have illegally occupied plots on the campus. This charge was denied by Sen who has said that the land in question was registered in records on a long-term lease.
Replying to her letter, Sen further wrote, “May I send you my deep appreciation of the warmth of your extremely kind letter. I also take the liberty of conveying to you my thanks as well as my personal affection and admiration.”
Earlier, speaking to a media publication, Sen had said that a big gap exists between the Santiniketan culture and that of the VBU vice-chancellor. “Having been born and brought up in Santiniketan, I could comment on the big gap between Santiniketan culture and that of the VC, empowered as he is by the central government in Delhi, with its growing control over Bengal. I would prefer to use Indian laws as they exist.” Said Sen.
“We are being told by Visva-Bharati university that its vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty is busy arranging the ‘eviction of unauthorised occupation’ of leased land on the campus and that I have also been named in the ‘list of occupants’, even though Visva-Bharati has never complained about any irregularity of landholding to us.” Added the Nobel laureate who finds himself under attack from the Central university which was founded by Rabindranath Tagore.
