Kolkata: Amid the ongoing tussle with Visva Bharati authorities over land, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's lawyer on Saturday issued a letter asking the university to tender an apology for accusing the economist of occupying the land illegally or else face legal action. Later, in a press statement, Sen turned down the university's request for a joint land survey and said land measurement will not address the issue of its ownership.
"The Visva Bharati bosses have declared that the 13 decimal land that I have used as part of my home from my childhood belongs not to us, but to them (Visva Bharati). But, whose land it is? Better measurement will not answer the question and the real issue is the interpretation of ownership and use," his statement read.
Criticising the university further, Sen said if the reason behind the land survey was learnt then it would reduce the fear of students from getting "wrongly expelled" by the "bungling" authorities. The university has issued three letters to Sen in this connection. In the first letter on January 24, the university alleged that he had illegally occupied the plot of his ancestral home 'Pratichi'. On January 27, a second letter was issued asking the economist to hand over the 13-decimal land. In the third letter that was issued two days ago, Visva Bharati sought a date for conducting a joint of the plot.
Also read: Mamata meets Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, says allegations of land grabbing against him baseless
Responding to the repeated allegations, Sen's advocate Gorachand Chakraborty issued a letter to the university authorities accusing the latter of defaming the Nobel laureate without furnishing authentic documents. "I am to state that despite cogent legal reason and without furnishing proper and authentic paper you have been issuing letters time and again to my client alleging that my said client has been possessing excess land to the extent of 13 decimal within Mouza Surul in Birbhum ignoring all the relevant records kept by the Government of West Bengal through its land and land revenue department which speaks that the total 16 annas area measuring 1.38 decimal is the area which was under the possession of the predecessors of my client Amartya Sen", he wrote. The nature and character of the property was not changed, the letter read.
Terming the allegation, "fictitious", "fabulous", "baseless" and "motivated", Sen's lawyer wrote that the university's attitude towards Sen has taken a toll on his mental and physical health. "On behalf of my client request you, to tender an apology in all the print and electronic media for making such fictitious, fake, malafide, baseless, fabulous and intentional remarks against my client without further delay and stop issuing such letters without seeking redress from the appropriate forum, otherwise my client shall have no other alternative but to take appropriate legal steps against you for disturbing the mental peace of a senior citizen," he wrote.
