The Santiniketan Trust, a charitable body set up by Rabindranath Tagore’s father Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to restrain Visva-Bharati vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty from making “obnoxious and derogatory remarks” against old-timers on the campus and alumni using a platform like Upasana Griha (prayer hall), a property belonging to the trust.

The Prime Minister is the chancellor of Visva-Bharati.

“We being the trustees of the said Trust can’t allow him (the VC) to use the platform of the Upasana Griha to insult and humiliate the Ashramiks (old-timers), alumni and local citizens.... We appeal before Your Authority to restrain Bidyut Chakrabarty from doing obnoxious activities and from throwing remarks in abusive language in this Upasana Griha,” the letter to Modi reads.

In the letter to Modi, Anil Konar, honorary secretary of the trust, said he was prompted to write to the Prime Minister after receiving a mass petition by around 200 people, including old-timers, teachers, students, artisans and traders of Santiniketan and Bolpur, who expressed their anguish at the VC’s activities. The letter says the petitioners are contemplating launching a movement at Upasana Griha.

“Upasana Griha is a property of the Santiniketan Trust and we allowed Visva-Bharati to use it to observe different religious programmes. It is a fact that he is using abusive language against old-timers, alumni and renowned people.... The local people are complaining about his obnoxious activities as the property belongs to us. As the Prime Minister is the chancellor of the varsity, we have written to him seeking his intervention,” Konar told The Telegraph.

The letter is significant against the backdrop of the controversy in which Visva-Bharati accused Nobel laureate Amartya Sen of occupying without authorisation 13 decimals of land, which originally belonged to the varsity, at his ancestral home, Pratichi.

The state government swatted away the varsity’s claims after examining land records available with the Birbhum district authorities. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee handed over the land documents to the economist.

“He (the VC) had obliquely attacked Amartya Sen from the Upasana Griha by saying that those involved in grabbing Visva-Bharati land are often called Tagore-lovers.... It was evident that he was attacking Professor Sen, the most distinguished alumnus of the varsity, and we all think that it was unfair and in poor taste,” said an old-timer.

The letter does not mention the row over the Pratichi land.

Visva-Bharati’s acting public relations officer Mahua Banerjee declined to comment on the trust’s letter.

The trust, set up by Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, owns around 11 bighas in the Ashram area. This includes Patha Bhavana, one of the two schools, and the Upasana Griha. Every Wednesday, varsity students and staff hold a prayer at Upasana Griha, popular as the “glass temple” as it is made with colourful glass brought from Belgium.

“Upasana Griha is meant for prayer but the VC is using the platform to hurl abuses against the alumni or whoever is opposing his whimsical activities.... I condemn such practice by him,” said Supriya Tagore, a great-grandson of Rabindranath Tagore’s elder brother Satyendranath Tagore. Supriya Tagore has signed the mass petition.