Visva-Bharati Vice Chancellor talks tough with teachers over thefts in purported video, stokes controversy

KOLKATA: Visva-Bharati University Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty courted controversy Saturday when a video circulated on social media purportedly showed him blaming a section of teachers for not doing enough to prevent incidents of theft in different departments of the varsity.

In the video of a virtual meeting between the V-C and faculty members held on Friday, a voice resembling that of Chakraborty can be heard telling them of not doing their bit to prevent recent thefts, and trying to pass the buck on security guards, who are reluctant to lodge any FIR fearing the henchmen of a ‘bahubali’ (strongman) of Birbhum district.

“Because of him (bahubali), Visva-Bharati cannot take any foolproof step to boost security. Why have you left it to the VC to flag such issues," said Chakraborty in the video clip. PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the video. There was no official response from the Visva-Bharati administration till the time of writing this report.

Meanwhile, reacting to the development, Trinamool Congress Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal said, "If he has the courage, Chakraborty should clarify whom he meant as ‘bahubali’." The central university was in the news recently after three students were rusticated for “disorderly conduct”, a decision which led to massive protests and a sit-in outside the residence of the V-C.

The Calcutta High Court on September 8 allowed the three students to rejoin classes, paving the way for return of normalcy at the institution.

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