Visva-Bharati on Monday night served a showcause notice on its student and SFI leader Somnath Sow, threatening him with disciplinary action for asking on social media if Nobel laureate Amartya Sen was targeted with a land-grab charge to serve the interest of vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty.

“It appears that in these social media posts (the letter mentioned three dates of Facebook posts by Sow on the Amartya Sen issue), you have taken sides with a certain individual, completely going against facts, official records and official position of Visva-Bharati. You have attempted to denigrate, defame and derogate Visva-Bharati as an institution and also its functionaries/officials and staff.... You are therefore directed to explain why disciplinary action against you shall not be taken for the aforesaid acts of indiscipline and misconduct as a student,” the letter issued by Visva-Bharati proctor Sudev Pratim Basu reads.

It warned that if he repeated such acts of indiscipline, “your studentship may be suspended or terminated without any further notice to you”.

Sow, an SFI state committee member, had faced the wrath of the varsity administration on many occasions since Chakrabarty took over as vice-chancellor in November 2018.

Sow was served the first show-cause notice in 2019 for taking part in a protest against a fee hike. The second notice was served on him in January 2020 for demonstrating against a pro-CAA lecture by the BJP’s Rajya Sabha member Swapan Dasgupta.

Sow faced a probe by the varsity’s disciplinary committee for the protest and was rusticated in August 2021.

His rustication was revoked after a long legal battle. Last month, he enrolled as a post-graduate student in the varsity’s rural management department.

Several varsity students and teachers said the notice to Sow exposed the varsity’s vindictiveness.

“Sow raised valid questions about the real motive of Visva-Bharati, especially its vice-chancellor, in attacking Professor Sen. It is very unfortunate that the varsity has decided to pull up Sow for a social media post that goes beyond the jurisdiction of the authorities. It is Bidyut Chakrabarty’s way of gagging voices of dissent,” said a senior varsity teacher.

In its letter, Visva-Bharati attached two Facebook posts by Sow in Bengali where he questioned the varsity for not disclosing land documents related to Sen’s ancestral house Pratichi after state government records dismissed the charge of encroachment by the Nobel laureate.

“Records from the office of the block land and land revenue officers say the owner (lessee) of 1.38 acres of land is Ashutosh Sen, father of professor Amartya Sen. Then was he (Sen) targetted only to fulfil the vested interest of the vice-chancellor? If it is not so then let Visva-Bharati go public with the ownership document of 0.13 acres (13 decimals) and let the matter be disposed of in a court of law,” one of Sow’s posts reads.

Since January 24, Visva-Bharati sent three letters to Sen asking the Nobel laureate to hand over 13 decimals of land he was allegedly occupying unauthorisedly in addition to 1.25 acres given to him as part of a long-term lease.

Sen dismissed the varsity’s claim and termed Visva-Bharati’s letter as “frivolous”.

Though chief minister Mamata Banerjee met the Nobel laureate at Pratichi and handed over land documents in support of Sen’s claim, Visva-Bharati stuck to its stand and continued sending letters to the economist.

Leaders of other students outfits spoke in Sow’s support.

“We can’t find anything wrong with Sow’s Facebook posts. He raised a valid point. It is well known why Amartya Sen has been targeted,” said Minakshi Bhattacharya, PhD scholar and chief ofTrinamul Chhatra Parishad’s Visva-Bharati unit.

Visva-Bharati acting public relations officer MahuaBanerjee, however, said Sowhad been asked to clarify why he shared false information on social media. “Anyone can write the right thing on social media. In his case, much information was wrong and he targeted the institution...,” Banerjee said.