Visva-Bharati: District police chief visits Poush Mela ground, talks to elderly locals

Around a week after the mayhem at Visva-Bharati campus over the fencing of Poush Mela ground by the central university, the district superintendent of police went around the area on Sunday and talked to elderly locals to gauge public opinion about the issue.

Accompanied by other police officials, Birbhum district SP Shyam Singh, who was not in uniform, visited Ratan Palli and other areas close to the annual fair ground on bicycle, went to the residences of several ashramites and interacted with them.

"I have met the ashramites, most of them senior citizens, individually. I noted down their points (on the issue). We met a cross section of local citizens and alumni at a meeting on August 19. I thought we should talk to these elderly people in a more homely manner," Singh said.

The SP said that the administration will take appropriate action on the basis of the feedback received from people.

Trouble had erupted in Visva-Bharati campus on August 17 after thousands of locals ransacked the property of the university founded by Rabindranath Tagore, and tore down a gate to protest against the fencing work.

Several people also vandalised the construction equipment on the ground of Poush Mela, an annual cultural event being held for over a hundred years, which the institute decided not to organise this year.

Educationist and Tagore family descendant Supriyo Tagore said that he was happy that the SP "came to our homes and listened to us. We aired our views to him and showed him around." Asked about his views on the matter, Tagore said, "Building walls will destroy the area the way we have seen it all these years. The present chaos and disturbance all around cannot be the ideal situation for Visva-Bharati." Neela Bhattacharya, a septuagenarian living adjacent to the ground, said, "Building a wall or a fence will be like creating a jail like atmosphere." Visva-Bharati Vice Chancellor Prof Bidyut Chakraborty said on Saturday that walls already exist on two sides of the Poush Mela ground, while the southern and eastern periphery remained unfenced.

The fencing work was to be undertaken "as per central government/UGC directives and CAG special security audit recommendations," Chakraborty stated.

"We also have to comply with the Hon'ble National Green Tribunal's orders on creating a barricaded and self- contained Mela venue, separated from the rest of the campus, particularly the academic and residential areas," he said in a statement.

Poush Mela is a handicraft, handloom, art and music festival held in the Bengali month of Poush, usually December-end. Rabindranath Tagore's father Maharshi Debendranath Tagore first organised the fair in 1894 and Visva-Bharati started organising it from 1951.

Visva-Bharati authorities have decided to scrap Poush Mela citing its "bitter experience" of the last two years in organising the winter carnival amid a tussle with traders on making them comply with National Green Tribunal (NGT) guidelines, university sources said.