Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday defended Nobel laureate and economist Amartya Sen when his name cropped up in the list of people illegally occupying the land belonging to Visva-Bharati University and said the scholars of Bengal are being insulted.
"Amartya Sen, Dwijen Mukherjee liberated this universe in nature under the shadow of Rabindranath. There will be open skies, there will be mangoes, there will be Poush Mela and there will be study in an open environment. China, Japan, Bangladesh and so many countries have done something there. But this is our misfortune that some people are attacking these sages," Banerjee said.
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The CM further appealed to intellectuals to protest against the allegations on Sen and to stand by him.
Visva Bharati authorities have recently sent a letter to the state government alleging that many people including Sen are occupying the varsity's land.
The allegation by Visva-Bharati has caused a storm of condemnation in Shantiniketan, garnering negative response from people who condemned it on social media.
