Relatives of Rabindranath Tagore including many prominent people , wrote a letter to the Chief Minister of Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, against the officials of Visva-Bharati University requesting them to take over the century-old heritage route as they feared access to it. Can be blocked.
The letter, written by 40 celebrities, which includes a member of artist Nandlal Bose’s family, states that high-rise walls and the “prison-like atmosphere has been created” in many parts of Santiniketan.
It is feared that the three-kilometer long road connecting Vishn Bharati to the Sriniketan village that Tegaur had dreamed of will be closed to the public and a new road will be built in its place.
This letter written in Bengali language says, “The construction of this wall eight to nine feet high on the part of this old route is nearing completion, where there are also the houses of scholars like Amartya Sen, Kshitimohan Sen and Nandlal Bose”.
“An 8 to 9 foot high wall is nearing completion on part of this ancient road which is dotted with residences of luminaries like Amartya Sen, Khsitimohan Sen and Nandalal Bose,” reads the letter written in Bengali.
“Once the wall is completed, this road will be closed to residents of Sripally, Simanta Pally, Pearson Pally, Andrew’s Pally, Deer Park, Binoy Bhavan and Sriniketan, and part of Santiniketan’s history and heritage will be lost,” he added.
According to reports, on August 17, the decision of Visva-Bharati, founded by Tagore in 1921, to build fences around the Poush Mela grounds sparked violence and the university’s properties were vandalized by a mob.