The SFI on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Visva-Bharati vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty for allegedly gagging democratic activities on campus and asked varsity authorities to unconditionally revoke the recent suspensions of university teachers, students and employees.

Addressing reporters in Birbhum’s Bolpur, state SFI secretary Srijan Bhattacharya condemned Chakraborty’s “political activities” and demanded his resignation in the wake of recent suspensions of teachers, students and employees who “dared” to raise their voice against the VC.

SFI leaders, including Bhattacharya, said they would write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also the Visva-Bharati chancellor, and President Ram Nath Kovind this week for the removal of the VC who is “working against the values of the university’s founder Rabindranath Tagore”.

“Urgent steps need to be taken so that we do not have to refer to someone like him as the esteemed VC anymore,” he said, demanding suspensions of student leaders Falguni Pan, Somnath Sow and economics professor Sudipta Bhattacharyya be revoked.

Suggesting that the varsity was suffering from a “systemic” top-down problem, Bhattacharya emphasised on the VC’s “arrogance”, saying it had “ruined the varsity’s atmosphere”.

He slammed Chakrabarty for “daring to humiliate Nobel laureate Amartya Sen” over an alleged land encroachment controversy.

Bhattacharya said the controversy involving Sen was the latest in a chain of events that began in 2019 with the VC’s alleged support for the BJP’s citizenship thrusts.

He condemned the VC’s attempts at saffronisation of the campus by inviting Rightwing ideologues such as Swapan Dasgupta to help promote the CAA. “Visva-Bharati is in a tough position... We strongly condemn it...In no uncertain terms we demand the resignation of the VC,” he added.

SFI sources said a letter to the Prime Minister and President would be drafted and sent this week after signatures were collected from across the varsity town.