‘Forget the medal, safekeep its values’

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has refused to blame the Viswabharati museum authorities for the theft of Tagore’s Nobel medal and other invaluable objects, saying burglaries take place even at the best protected places in the world.

‘‘I don’t know how they were kept and what care was taken to protect them. But I know burglaries do take place even at the best protected places in the world,’’ Sen said on Sunday on his arrival at Santiniketan.

Sen, who received the Nobel prize in Economics, came to Santiniketan on Sunday where his 92-year-old mother Ameeta Sen still lives.

Refusing to call the theft a national crisis, Sen said: ‘‘People die of hunger or riots and I think that is a national crisis. A medal is a piece of metal but what it reflects is some ideas, some values. What is important is to uphold those ideas or values.’’

Sen in Kolkata on Sunday. (PTI)