Amartya Sen’s ‘Pratichi’ under legal row: “There is politics behind this. I am a target”
Visva-Bharati, West Bengal’s only central university, has issued a notice to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, pulling Amartya Sen’s ‘Pratichi’ under the legal row. VB claims it leased 1.25 acres to Ashutosh Sen (the Nobel laureate’s father) in 1943 and then to Sen in 2006 and accuses him of holding on “illegally” to .13 acres. Sen has rubbished this, claiming his father had taken 1.38 acres.
Sen’s lawyer, Gorachand Chakraborty, said there was “no question of encroachment”. However, VB lawyer Sucharita Biswas insisted that the lease deed mentioned only 1.25 acres were leased to Sen’s father on October 27, 1943.
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Whereas the Mamata govt says the entire land of Amartya Sen’s house in Santiniketan belongs to him. The land and land reforms department in a statement said the Nobel laureate is the rightful owner of the entire 1.38 acres of plot, which falls under Surul mouza in Bolpur police station as per land records. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee handed over the land deed of ‘Pratichi’, Sen’s residence in Santiniketan, to him in January.
The Bengal government on Monday transferred the leasehold rights of 1.38 acres of Pratichi in Santiniketan in the name of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, the development coming close on the heels of Visva-Bharati sending a letter threatening his eviction from his property for alleged illegal occupation of 13 decimals of land.
“We transferred the rights of land records to Amartya Sen as a legal heir of his father Ashutosh Sen. Now the question of unauthorised occupation does not arise as the said 1.38 acre-plot has been transferred in his name. We made the transfer after verifying papers submitted by Sen and conducting a hearing in which Visva-Bharati authorities were also present,” said Birbhum district magistrate Bidhan Ray.
Asoke Mahato, VB officiating registrar and estate officer, said the university was yet to receive any document from the state government. “I have seen a document in the media. This document has been downloaded from the website of the land department. The previous record mentioned Ashutosh Sen as the leaseholder. The change may create some confusion. But this document has no specific mention of the quantum of leased land in Sen’s name,” he added.
There have been allegations from certain quarters that the university’s actions may be politically motivated given the fact that Sen has been critical of many policies of the present dispensation at the Centre.
Earlier during his stay on the campus, Sen had remarked that he was being targeted for his views on secularism. “I don’t think the steps the Chief Minister took will stop those who want to oust me from my home. There is politics behind this. I am a target because I voice my views on a secular India where Hindus and Muslims should live in peace. Gandhi and Nehru wanted that. This is not acceptable to some people,” he stated.
Shantanu Sen, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member, said: “The humiliation faced by Sen is the highest example of political vendetta. He has been targeted because he said Banerjee is fit to be the prime minister. This is an insult to Bengal and all Bengalis.”
Samik Bhattacharya, State BJP’s chief spokesperson, said: “Sen is a respectable citizen. We want to see a solution to this issue. It was Mamata Banerjee who brought politics into this.”
After the state government transferred the land rights to Sen, Ashok Mahato held a news meeting on Monday evening at the central administrative building of the varsity.
“We have appealed to the state government with our objections. Visva-Bharati is the owner of the land and the amount of land leased out to Sen is an issue that has to be settled between the lessee and the owner. We will go ahead to recover the illegally occupied land,” Mahato said.
Visva-Bharati had on Sunday asked the economist to reply to its notice by March 24 on the issue of vacating the “unauthorised plot” and appear before Ashok Mahato, its joint registrar and estate officer, personally or through a representative by March 29 along with evidence in support of Sen’s assertion that he is not occupying any plot unauthorisedly. They have also mentioned that in case he doesn’t appear the proceedings will be decided on the basis of ex parte.
The university spokesperson, Mahua Banerjee, claimed that Sen neither responded to any of the letters nor took any follow-up action, which prompted it to send the latest notice.
“We have no problem if he deputes someone, but we hope he will be responding to the notice this time,” she said.
She also added that Visva-Bharati is not treating Sen’s case separately from similar others and steps are being initiated to free all illegally occupied plots.
Sen, who is now in the US, could not be reached for his comments on the letter. Sources close to him said there was no possibility, at least for now, of anyone appearing on his behalf for the proposed meeting.
As the varsity authorities denied the claims of Sen and the state government, district authorities held a hearing on the issue to resolve the impasse. After two sessions of hearings, the land department made the provisional transfer of the entire 1.38 acres, however, the official verdict was made public on Monday.
