No 'Basanta Utsav' in Visva-Bharati for third consecutive year

KOLKATA: 'Basanta Utsav', the annual spring festival organised on the day of Doljatra in Visva-Bharati University, will not be observed by the authorities for the third time in a row in view of the "prevailing situation" including the Covid-19 pandemic, an official said on Thursday. The students of the central university, who are agitating over several demands like the opening of the hostels, denounced the decision and said they will celebrate the festival following the rituals on Friday, the day of Doljatra.

The 'Basanta Utsav' is held inside the campus of the central university in Birbhum district for ages. The festival was started by Rabindranath Tagore, the original founder of the institute, and it attracts thousands of visitors from outside. However, it was not celebrated in the last two years due to surging coronavirus cases. Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty in consultation with members of the Executive Committee (EC), the highest decision-making body of the university, decided not to celebrate the festival this year too due to the "prevailing situation", the official told PTI. Asked what he meant by the "prevailing situation", the official who is a member of the EC said the Covid pandemic is there and "you know what is happening", indicating the protests by students.

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The VC had said a few days back that the Basanta Utsav will be held in a scaled-down manner this year allowing no outsiders, "the way it used to be in earlier days when introduced by Gurudev (Tagore)". However, it was followed by a spate of incidents including a 30-hour gherao of senior Visva-Bharati officials and the resignation of the registrar. The agitating students said they will observe the festival. "We will take out the procession singing 'Ore Grihobasi' from the Upasana Griha (prayer hall) at 7 in the morning and move around the Santiniketan campus," SFI Visva-Bharati unit leader Somnath Sow said. "Ore Grihabasi, khol dwar khol laglo je dol…. (O home dweller, open the door, the Dol festival is here)” is a popular Tagore song sung in a procession as part of the festival in the university. Tagore, the first Asian Nobel Laureate, founded Visva-Bharati in 1921. It was declared a central university and an institution of national importance by an Act of Parliament in 1951.