Visva-Bharati on Tuesday changed the venue of an event that would mark Rabindranath Tagore’s death anniversary on Wednesday from Bangladesh Bhavana, apprehending a security threat to the facility if it was opened for a public programme.

The erstwhile Sheikh Hasina government of Bangladesh set up the facility that boasts a museum, library and conference halls.

The central university issued a notification on Tuesday, informing that Tagore’s death anniversary event, which was scheduled to take place at Bangladesh Bhavana, had been shifted to the Old Mela ground, which is around 1km from the earlier venue.

“Earlier, we had decided to hold the event at Bangladesh Bhavana. The new venue is the Old Mela ground,” said acting Visva-Bharati vice-chancellor Arabinda Mondal, who did not reveal the reason behind the decision.

Every year, Visva-Bharati organises the traditional programme Briksharopan (plantation), to observe Tagore’s death anniversary. The Karmi Mandali, a body of officials that conducts events and festivals, had chosen the lawn of Bangladesh Bhavana for this year’s programme.

On Tuesday, a source said Mondal and senior university officials held a meeting where many expressed their concern about the security of Bangladesh Bhavana.

On May 25, 2018, Bangladesh Bhavana was jointly inaugurated by Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Hasina. However, several works in the museum couldn’t be completed because of Covid-19.

A special team from Bangladesh visited Visva-Bharati last month and added many items, including a bust of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to its museum. A senior university official said there were a few more tasks to be completed by the neighbouring country within two months.

“Considering the current situation, the tasks are unlikely to be completed,” the official said.

As Hasina resigned and fled the country following turbulent developments, including vandalism of statues of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Monday, the university authorities expressed their concern over the security of Bangladesh Bhavana.

Multiple university officials this correspondent spoke to said they had decided to shift Briksharopan from Bangladesh Bhavana to avoid any untoward incident at the venue. They have said holding such an important event means the venue should be opened to the public, which would result in a risk.

“There is a panel on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and recently, his bust was added there. After the fall of the Hasina government, we all know what happened to the statue of her father. Now, if anyone or a group of people creates any nuisance inside Bangladesh Bhavana, it would become an international issue. So, it is better not to organise such an event there,” said a senior university official.

Around 60-80 students from Bangladesh come to study at Visva-Bharati every year in undergraduate, postgraduate, and PhD courses. Among the foreign students, the number of Bangladeshi students is the highest.

“If we consider that 80 students get admitted here annually, there are around 400 students from Bangladesh. We don’t know their political affiliations or stance on their country’s situation. So, it is better not to open the doors of Bangladesh Bhavana for all right now,” said a source in the university administration.

He has said the university also considered that Hasina is currently in India and
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the chancellor of the central university.

“So, if anything untoward happens there, it would become a big issue. We are not ready to face any controversy relating to Bangladesh,”
he added.

Flights resume

Flight services between Calcutta and Dhaka resumed late on Monday after the airport in the Bangladesh capital reopened after remaining closed for around six hours.

Calcutta airport officials said a US-Bangla flight landed in the city from Dhaka at 11.37pm on Monday.

On Tuesday, six flights departed from Calcutta for Dhaka and five arrived. The officials said 268 passengers came from Bangladesh while nearly 240 passengers went from Calcutta to the trouble-torn country.

“Almost all flights operated a few minutes delayed,” said an airport official.

Dhaka airport was closed between 4.45pm and 10.30pm Indian Standard Time
on Monday.

As flight operations resumed, many who had landed in the city said they were worried about their family members in Bangladesh.

Those flying to Dhaka said they were unsure whether the commute back home would be safe.

Mohammad Amin Hasan who lives in Demra around 29km from the Dhaka airport said he started from his house at 4.30am (Bangladesh time) even though he was booked on a flight that had a scheduled take-off time at 12.40pm (Bangladesh time).

“The situation in Bangladesh is volatile, to say the least. I did not want to come here leaving my wife and two daughters back home. However, I had no choice but to be here for a business meeting,” said Hasan who runs a wholesale unit for leather and faux leather items.

A Jaipur resident, who works for a multinational garment manufacturing unit in Bangladesh, said he has never seen the country like this.

Mohammed Kamrul Islam who was booked on a flight to Dhaka said the videos circulating on the Internet were “extremely disturbing”.