Rabindranath Tagore could not have imagined that people someday could hope that his bust would protect them from possible eviction by Visva-Bharati authorities.

Traders and artisans of Kabiguru Handicraft Market, along the road leading to the Visva-Bharati campus on Friday, inaugurated Tagore’s bust, which they hoped would make the Visva-Bharati authorities think twice before evicting them.

The dispute over the market erupted after Visva-Bharati claimed ownership of the land while traders said their shops were located on land owned by the public works department (PWD).

On Friday, Tagore’s 79th death anniversary, a member of the board of administrator in Bolpur Municipality, Sukanta Hazra, unveiled the bust and said it would save the traders from eviction. The traders had raised Rs 12,000 for Tagore’s concrete bust sculpted by artisan Dipak Das, who also owns a shop.

There are some 140 shops, mostly owned by artisans selling leather and kantha-stitch items for past 40 years.

Varsity officials said they were trying to evict the market for a cleaner look to the campus.

An official added that Tagore’s bust was no protection.

“Tagore never believed in idol culture. So a bust is immaterial,” he said. “The present administration tried to recover the encroached land. On August 5 last year, the varsity officials, headed by vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty, sat on a 12-hour hunger strike demanding removal of the shops,”the varsity official said. “We offered them another stretch for rehabilitation. But traders say the present location is good for business.”

On charges that the land was not the varsity’s but PWD’s, the official said: “If the land was not ours, why did we offer them land for rehabilitation?”

Traders think otherwise. “Visva-Bharati has been trying to evict us since last year though the land belongs to the PWD. We installed a bust of Tagore as we think it will protect us from eviction,” said Aminul Huda, Kabiguru Handicrafts Unnayan Samiti secretary.

Another trader added: “We hope Visva-Bharati does not demolish Tagore’s bust to evict us.”

Hazra said many shops on the campus had been demolished. “Now Visva-Bharati is trying to evict artisans too. Tagore’s bust will be a safeguard against eviction.”