Visva-Bharati shelves lecture by economist Prabhat Patnaik

Visva-Bharati University has shelved a scheduled lecture by Marxist economist and political commentator Prabhat Patnaik, a varsity source said on Tuesday. Patnaik was supposed to deliver the 'Ashok Rudra Memorial Lecture' on March 12 - organised by the department of economics and politics at the central university - on the current financial situation in the country. "We have been informed by the office of the vice-chancellor that the scheduled lecture by professor Patnaik have been put on hold due to the prevailing situation at the university," the source said, adding that funds for the lecture were to come from UGC special assistance budget.

Last month, a lecture on the amended Citizenship Act at the varsity by eminent columnist-BJP MP Swapan Dasgupta was disrupted by the SFI and other Left-leaning students. Dasgupta was confined in a room for several hours by the agitators. Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty and spokesman Anirban Sarkar were not available for comments. Somnath Sau, an SFI leader at Visva-Bharati, said it was "unfortunate that the central institution, founded by Rabindranath Tagore, had to postpone a lecture by an internationally known economist". Visva-Bharati, founded by Tagore in 1921, is a central university which has the prime minister as its chancellor.