VISVA-BHARATI

To Professor Manmohan Singh Hon’ble Prime Minister of India and the Acharya of Visva-Bharati New Delhi Santiniketan, 13 July 2012 Respected Sir, We, the ashramites of Santiniketan and enthusiasts of Gurudeva Rabindranath are still in a state of shock at the gruesome humiliation of a little girl by a hostel warden of Patha Bhavana. We also condemn the cruelty shown to the girl by the Visva-Bharati authorities, including the Vice-Chancellor Professor Sushanta Dattagupta in a manner which is unprecedented in the history of Visva-Bharati. To this date, the Vice-Chancellor did not manage to meet the little girl and console her for her irreparable loss. The attitude and management of the Vice-Chancellor Professor sushanta Dattagupta has tarnished the image of the Honorable President of India, the Honourable Prime Minister of India, the Honourable Chief Minister of West Bengal and above all the image of the entire nation. The highly deplorable attitude of the VC is a deliberate insult to Gurudeva, Mahatmaji and Panditji—the three founding fathers of Visva-Bharati. While we demand a serious probe into the incident, we would also like to take this opportunity to bring certain important facts to your kind notice: 1. The VC, Professor Sushanta Dattagupta was dishonourably terminated from the Directorship of the S.N. Bose Centre for Basic Sciences in 2005 for harassing a female colleague. Professor Dattagupta had suppressed this important fact while submitting his bio-data to the members of the Search Committee to appoint the VC at Visva-Bharati in 2011. (Annexure 1, Prof. Dattagupta’s email to Prof. Debasish Mukherjee in 2005.) 2. Professor Dattagupta has allegedly harassed several academics and employees at the S.N Bose Centre, IISER (Kolkata) and at Visva-Bharati. Serious financial and administrative irregularities, involving crores of rupees, have been reported against the administration of Prof. Dattagupta by CAG. (Annexure: 2, Audit reports of IISER, Kolkata). 3. Being the Chairperson of the Executive Council of Visva-Bharati, Professor Dattagupta recommended extension of his own tenure at Visva-Bharati and got the Statute of the University amended. This appears to be a sheer and unprecedented illegality. (Annexure 3) 4. Professor Dattagupta disrupted the restoration (of Tagore Heritage) programmes of Visva-Bharati, undertaken with generous support from the PMO, Ministry of Culture and also from Shrimati Sonia Gandhi. Professor Dattagupta has clearly victimized several key officials who had been closely associated with the concerned restoration programme under the illustrious leadership of the former Vice-Chancellor Professor Rajatkanta Ray. 5. It appears that Professor Dattagupta is drawing his pension from JNU and drawing his salary from Visva-Bharati at the same time violating all rules. He has joined Visva-Bharati on lien from the IISER as a Professor. RTI queries have revealed that Professor Dattagupta was never appointed as a Professor at the IISER. (Anexture 4) Visva-Bharati and Santiniketan should be grateful to you for your historical efforts to rejuvinate Visva-Bharati. May we kindly request you to kindly initiate an appropriate enquiry by an independent investigative agency, preferably by the CBI, to look into the questionable practices and performances of Professor Sushanta Dattagupta at S.N. Bose Centre for Basic Sciences, IISER (Kolkata) and at Visva-Bharati? May we also request you to kindly stop his extension, encouraging him to retire in December 2012 on the basis of his appointment letter? May we also request you to send him on leave in the interest of impartial enquiry. In respect, Yours sincerely,