VBU to write to PM for central forces
BOLPUR: Visva Bharati authorities have decided to seek PM Modi’s intervention for deployment of central security forces on its premises, a day after vandalism forced its closure, a top official of the prestigious institution in West Bengal said on Tuesday.
The heritage university founded by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore was shut down indefinitely on Monday following violent protests against Visva Bharati’s decision to construct a boundary wall around the venue of Poush Mela, a prestigious annual cultural event started more than a century ago.
It also said it will seek a CBI probe into the incident.
According to Shyam Singh, the Birbhum district Superintendent of Police, 9 persons were arrested for campus violence. Palpable tension prevailed at the institute with barely any movement seen on Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, a senior professor of the institution has alleged a group of protesters ransacked his residence early on Tuesday, hours after the decision to close the university was announced.
Biplab Lohachowdhury, the head of the university’s journalism department, also said he has filed a police complaint, and written to the registrar of the institute to intimate him about the incident.
The executive council (of the university) has unanimously decided to write to the honourable chancellor (the PM) for deployment of any of the central security forces to deal with security issues on the campus.
— A member