Kolkata: Nobel laureate Amartya Sen Monday thanked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for supporting him after his family was accused by the Visva Bharati of being in “illegal” possession of land on the campus, and said her strong voice is a tremendous source of strength.
In his letter, the eminent economist thanked Banerjee for taking out time from her busy schedule, and “reassuring people under attack”.
“I am very happy indeed to get your wonderfully 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.
“May I send you my deep appreciation of the warmth of your extremely kind letter. I also take the liberty of conveying to you as my thanks as well as my personal affection and admiration,” he wrote.
A huge controversy had erupted last Thursday, the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the centenary celebrations of Visva Bharati when media reported that the university has written to the West Bengal government alleging dozens of land parcels owned by it were wrongfully recorded in the names of private parties, including Sen.
The Nobel laureate had said that the university land on which his house stands is on a long-term lease, which is nowwhere near its expiry.
The chief minister had reacted angrily to the media reports, saying Sen was being subjected to “such vicious attack by the present university authorities because of his idelogical anti-BJP stance”.
Banerjee had offered apology to Sen on behalf of the state and also wrote a letter to him, asking him to consider her a “sister and friend” in his war against “intolerance and totalitarianism”.
The noted economist had accused the Visva Bharati vice-chancellor of acting at the behest of the Centre “with its growing control over Bengal”.
Amartya Sen’s maternal grandfather Kshitimohan Sen was a pupil at Santiniketan that evolved into a university over time, and was honoured with ‘Deshikottam’, a coveted award, in 1952. Kshitimohan Sen was the award’s first recipient.
Also read: Why Mamata and BJP are battling over this little known Bengal minority community
I have lived in USA for the last 34 years. I have watched in international seminars the respect Dr. Sen receives from President Barak Obama to most learned intellectuals and peer nobel laureates for his lectures, writings and poverty index theory. I can’t even read the shameful ignorant comments.
How the mighty fall! Very sad to see Nobel Laureate and Bharat Ratna Shri Amartya Sen looking for support from Smt Mamata Banerjee for just 13 decimals of land. Does he have more faith in political shenanigans of a mercurial politician than the law of the land?
What does it mean? That he is no in possession of illegal land? While heading Nalada University, he paid salaries to Dr.Manmohan Singh’s daughters as faculty, though they were abroad and never came to India to teach in Nalanda University. There is a traditional saying – “if a person is caught in a lie in one instance, all his statements should be disbelieved.”
Communist illegally holding government land, what is new?
Amartya Send is a slimy character. But that is his personal problem. He is a danger to the nation because of his extremist lefty views. He is just another quack economist who peddles poverty distribution.