Whiff of mismanagement in Bangiya Sahitya Parishad
The annual general meeting of Bangiya Sahitya Parishad is going to be stormy in view of the sheer mismanagement of the authorities running the organization.
The legacy of Rabindranath Tagore has been trivialised yet again in the fountain-head of his creation. Visva-Bharati’s acting Vice-Chancellor has accorded permission for a film-shoot featuring the Union minister, Babul Supriyo, in Santiniketan’s holy of holies — the Upasana Mandir (prayer hall). Reports suggest that the decision was unilateral, indeed reversing the earlier order that had rightly disallowed the shooting of a film on the poet. Has the MP from Asansol been accorded precedence over Tagore? It is hard not to wonder whether the decision followed the pulling of political strings. The minister has ducked the responsibility of the film team and its director and producer, passing the buck onto the VC’s office — “The person who gave the permission, in this case the VC, has to take the responsibility,” is the somewhat evasive response.
It bears recall that the previous VC had to step down under a cloud; the officiating head of the central university has already stirred a controversy over a heritage building, verily an object of beauty. Upasana Mandir, an exquisite structure that is also referred to as kanch mandir (glass temple), has traditionally been integral to Santiniketan’s predominantly Brahmo culture. The ashramites of yesteryear must be spinning in their graves, pre-eminently the poet’s father, Maharshi Debendranath, who had conceived the prayer hall. Visva-Bharati has suffered a double whammy at the behest of the incredibly accommodating acting VC. Permission was given to the crew for the filming of prayers on a certain Wednesday — the day of the week that was earmarked by Tagore for a ritualistic programme devoted to hymns and poetry.
That tradition has been preserved, but sadly not the praxis that has been followed on a welter of issues by the VCs in recent years, as often as not verging on the scandalous. These range from under-qualified faculty appointments to the events at Upasana Mandir last week. The prayer hall, constructed with Belgian glass and a roof of burnt clay, was trivialised further still within 24 hours when the film crew trooped into the venue… with permission to enact a prayer sequence.
The official “welcome” accorded to the film team makes a calculated mockery of the giant boards that proclaim that it is a “heritage site” and a “protected area” where “photography is prohibited”. The acting VC’s explanation that permission was granted on an understanding that the film, Posto, will promote Santiniketan’s culture and education is a strained defence of an ugly truth. Sad to reflect that both culture and learning — the second never the forte of Visva-Bharati — have been accorded a minor rating in the overall construct. There is today a hollow ring to the theme song, Amader Santiniketan.
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