Visva-Bharati V-C’s security withdrawn over ‘misuse’

A personal security guard assigned to Chakrabarty was also removed, and a replacement was assigned on Thursday. However, sources in the university said Chakrabarty declined to accept the new guard.

Also Read| Another row erupts, this time over a wall inside Visva-Bharati campus

On Wednesday, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had urged the government to provide security to Chakrabarty. “VC Visva Bharati has intimated ‘my personal bodyguard, given by the state government has suddenly been withdrawn. On 17/08, four bodyguards, stationed in VC office, were withdrawn’. I find it inappropriate. Urged @MamataOfficial to take appropriate steps and provide security,” Dhankhar tweeted, tagging Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s official handle.

Meanwhile, a number of intellectuals and prominent personalities in the state appealed to both the university administration and the government to resolve the dispute, and condemned Monday’s vandalism. They supported neither the wall construction nor the vandalism, and criticised the transformation of the university into a “wrestling arena”.

Also Read| Visva-Bharati University officials skip meet meant to break deadlock, cite security

In their appeal, the intellectuals demanded a return to normalcy, and the preservation of the university’s culture and heritage. Among the signatories of the appeal were renowned poet Shankha Ghosh; filmmakers Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Tarun Majumdar and Anik Dutta; theatre personalities Bibhash Chakraborty, Rudraprasad Sengupta, Chandan Sen and Manoj Mitra; and actors Sabyasachi Chakraborty and Koushik Sen.