A section of the culture clan on Sunday urged civil society members and college and university teachers to launch a sustained movement against Visva-Bharati’s administration headed by vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty for a series of alleged wrongdoings, especially after the recent targetting of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen.

The appeal was made by artist Shuvaprasanna, economist Abhirup Sarkar and singer Pratul Mukhopadhyay, who are all known for their allegiance to chief minister Mamata Banerjee. They agreed that there was a “political vendetta” behind the university’s charge that Sen had encroached on Visva-Bharati’s land as the accusation came shortly after the Nobel laureate had said Mamata had the ability to become the next prime minister.

“There is no doubt that there is a different intention behind mounting such attacks on a personality like Amartya Sen, and the intention is 100 per cent political. A few days before, Amartya Sen had said Mamata Banerjee had the capability to be the prime minister easily. Amartya Sen has every right to comment on economic and political affairs as he is still a citizen of the country. He can’t be attacked with an abhorrent accusation like that of grabbing a stretch of land just because he made such a political comment,” Sarkar said during a news conference at Calcutta Press Club.

“I condemn such heinous practices that take place in Visva-Bharati and come from a fascist framework. It is unfortunate that people like the vice-chancellor (BidyutChakrabarty) are continuing such practices for their personal benefit. I think the VC has no right to be on that chair at Visva-Bharati,” the economist added.

A petition against the alleged wrongdoings of Visva-Bharati under VC Bidyut Chakrabarty’s leadership was signed by 30-odd cultural and educational personalities across Bengal and was circulated at the news conference.

Manojit Mandal, a faculty member of Jadavpur University and former state government representative in the varsity’s executive council, said a platform called Visva-Bharati Banchao Committee (Save Visva-Bharati) had already been floated and civil society members from various platforms had been invited to come forward for a long-term protest against Chakrabarty.

“Today’s move (press meet) was just the beginning and we will continue our movement against the wrongdoings of the VC. We will not let him ruin a cultural institution like Visva-Bharati so easily,” said Mandal.

Sudipta Bhattacharyya, the recently-sacked economics professor, and Trinamul Congress students’ wing leader in Visva-Bharati Minakshi Bhattacharya said Chakrabarty’s tenure as VC had become a “nightmare” for students, teachers and old-timers who raised their voice against the “wrongdoings”.

“There is no university in this world where students and teachers have faced punitive action by authorities in such large numbers. At least 400 teachers, students and staff of the varsity had faced punitive action like show cause, suspension, termination and rustication. He (Chakrabarty) always tries to kill the voice of dissent by violating all norms and laws. It is rare that an educational institution fights legal battles against so many of its employees and students,” said sacked professor Bhattacharyya.

Minakshi Bhattacharya said Chakrabarty was “anti-student” by nature and was “capable of asking his security personnel to shoot at protesting and agitating students”.Artist Shuvaprasanna said the cultural sections of the civil society of the city would not only protest from Calcutta but would also move to Santiniketan to start a “democratic movement” against the VC.

“We will not protest only from Calcutta. We are ready to go to Santiniketan to stop this wrongdoing and to save the land of Rabindranath Tagore from the VC, who is destroying the integrity of the place.”

The acting public relations officer of Visva-Bharati, Mahua Banerjee, declined comments when she was asked about the varsity’s reaction to the news conference.