A group of 57 residents of Santiniketan has written to the registrar of Visva-Bharati, Ashish Agrawal, requesting the varsity's two new gates be kept open as their closure meant a longer detour for elderly residents of the area.

In their letter, residents cited a report by a committee formed by Calcutta High Court advising Visva-Bharati to keep the new gates open, except on “rare special occasions”. However, varsity authorities reportedly keep them closed to pedestrians.

“The varsity administration has set up two large gates on an East-West road connecting two parts of Santiniketan. The gates block the road used by residents since the inception of the varsity. We have to make a detour of 2km to reach hospitals, post office, banks or police station. Old-timers who have been an integral part of the campus from the time of Tagore are harassed,” said N. Sethuraman, a resident of Purba Pally who signed the petition. “The institution is stopping the thoroughfare of common people illegally.”

The residents said they requested the registrar to keep the gates open. If their plea goes unheeded, they would agitate further, they said. Copies of the letter have been sent to the DM and SP.

Sources said the two iron gates were built on the East-West road passing through the varsity’s central office in late 2020, prompted by vandalism on varsity campus allegedly led by local Trinamul leaders to protest setting up boundary walls around the Pous Mela ground. The gates were christened Purabi and Balaka.

Students also alleged authorities deployed private security guards at the gates to stop student protests.Somnath Sow, SFI leader in the varsity, blamed the VC Bidyut Chakrabarty.

Visva-Bharati's acting public relations officer, Atig Ghosh, did not take calls or reply to a text message when asked for the varsity’s take.