Visva-Bharati replaces controversial plaques on UNESCO tag to Santiniketan

Kolkata: Visva-Bharati replaced the controversial plaques commemorating UNESCO's world heritage tag to Santiniketan, officials said on Thursday.

Santiniketan, where Rabindranath Tagore built Visva-Bharati over a century ago, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in September.

The central varsity installed three plaques to commemorate it, but the plaques did not have Tagore's name, and instead those of PM Narendra Modi, who is the chancellor, and then vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty.

The incident triggered a political furore with CM Mamata Banerjee, the state's opposition BJP and several noted personalities criticising Chakraborty, who retired last month.

The text on the new plaques has been approved by the Union Education Ministry, and it does not have references to anyone other than Tagore, officials said.

"Established in rural West Bengal in 1901 by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, Santiniketan became a cradle of learning and education firmly rooted in India's classical traditions...," read the newly installed plaques.

The ruling TMC also staged a 14-day sit-in outside the campus over the issue.