Visva-Bharati authorities have locked the campus office of a teachers’ union after its members protested against several recent measures by the varsity, including a lecture on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act by Rajya Sabha member Swapan Dasgupta.
Asha Mukherjee, the officiating registrar of the varsity, issued an order addressed to the secretary of the Visva-Bharati University Faculty Association (VBUFA).
“Our office was closed and sealed following an order issued by the officiating registrar. In a recent meeting, the vice-chancellor himself blamed us for the protest against Dasgupta’s lecture. We opposed the decision of organising a one-sided lecture on the issue. We protested against several other unethical decisions of the authorities,” said VBUFA president Sudipta Bhattacharyya.
Formed in 2014, the VBUFA is affiliated to the Federation of Central Universities Teachers’ Association and the All India Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisation. The VBUFA got the varsity’s nod in 2015. There are offices of other unions also in the varsity, including that of the Adhyapak Sabha, another association of Visva-Bharati teachers.
Sources said the VBUFA had condemned the varsity’s decision to organise a seminar by an RSS-backed organisation in October. Besides, the VBUFA also slammed the invitation to ABVP organising-secretary Sunil Ambekar to the annual plough festival, Halakarshana, in August.
“Continuous efforts to promote the BJP’s agenda are leading to the loss of the university’s neutrality. The office closure is an attempt to muffle our voices,” said a member of the association.
Visva-Bharati officials, however, claimed the authorities had asked the VBUFA to prove its membership strength several times, but its leaders failed to do so. “The VBUFA claimed the membership of around 300 teachers. When they were asked to prove it, they failed. The vice-chancellor had also requested them, but they failed to prove their strength. So, we locked the office. We can’t grant a room to an organisation run by one or two people,” said Anirban Sircar, officiating public relations officer.