Amartya back at VB event after 5 years, Patnaik delivers lecture cancelled in ’20
Times of India | 11 April 2024
Kolkata: Nobel laureate Amartya Sen spoke virtually as a chief guest at a programme in Visva-Bharati on Wednesday, marking his return to the Santiniketan campus, albeit digitally, after five years. Sen had last been invited to attend a programme at the university in 2019.
Sen, currently in Boston, inaugurated the second Ashok Rudra Memorial Lecture held by VB’s economics and politics department.After his welcome speech, economist Prabhat Patnaik, emeritus professor at JNU, delivered the lecture on ‘Employment and Poverty under Neo-Liberal Capitalism’. The central library conference hall was packed with teachers, students, scholars as well as non-teaching staff members, who welcomed the two scholars with a thundering applause.
The scene was in contrast to the situation till a few months ago, when former vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty was in office. Chakrabarty’s tenure was marked by repeated stand-offs between the university and Sen over a land dispute. Even Patnaik was supposed to deliver the same lecture on Feb 10, 2020, but it was Chakrabarty who had allegedly told the economics department “not to proceed with the lecture”, without citing any reason.
During his speech on Wednesday, Sen introduced Patnaik, who was his student at Delhi School of Economics, as someone with “extraordinary talent and ability” and welcomed him to Santiniketan. He shared his affection for Visva-Bharati and Santiniketan. “Santiniketan is a remarkable town. Not often recognized by vice-chancellors and others... However, for common people, like you and me, it really is a great opportunity to be here. It is a bilingual town. We can talk in Bengali or English or Hindi...” he said.
Patnaik spoke about neo-liberal capitalism and its detrimental effects on labourers, petty producers and peasants, especially in the third world, through policies such as, state withdrawal and privatization. He touched upon the rise in inequality, unemployment and poverty and explored alternative policies aimed at ensuring constitutional provisions of fundamental rights such as right to food, education and health.
HoD of economics and politics department Saumya Chakrabarti called it a “significant moment” as the department welcomed Sen and Patnaik. “Due to some reasons, the academic activities had been stalled. But normalcy and academic endeavours are back on the campus, a positive change,” he said.
VBUFA president and economics professor Sudipta Bhattacharya thanked officiating VC Sanjay Mallik for granting the approval to host Patnaik. “The action in 2020 was disrespectful to the department and despite suggestions to invite an alternative speaker, we remained steadfast in our commitment to hosting Patnaik’s lecture. We patiently waited for this opportunity for the past four years. Today was a positive step in restoring normalcy,” Bhattacharya said.
PhD scholar Swapnanil Mukherjee said, “Such lectures motivate students to strive for the best. It reflects on VB’s legacy.” Former VB professor Aparajita Mukherjee was elated to be in the audience. “I felt extremely happy we could listen to Sen and Patnaik at the same event. It shows the return of normalcy on the campus,” Mukherjee added.
Santiniketan Trust secretary and an old ashramik, Anil Konar, pointed out that for a university, it was normal to host thinkers, such as Patnaik and Sen, and this should continue to maintain the academic standards of VB.