Under fire from various quarters for his comment that Rabindranath Tagore was “an outsider” in Shantiniketan, Visva-Bharati Vice-Chancellor Prof Bidyut Chakraborty on Friday apologised for the comment but insisted that it was misinterpreted. Tagore had founded Visva-Bharati in 1921 and it became a central university in 1951.
Amid the row at Visva-Bharati over Poush Mela ground fencing, Chakraborty said in a statement on August 23 that Tagore had also come to Bolpur from outside to set up the institute. The VC’s “outsider” reference was apparently aimed at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who said,” Outsiders were present during the construction of the boundary wall on Poush Mela ground, an action not inconsonance with Tagore’s ideals of education in the lap ofnature”