Students bar Bangladeshi dignitaries to join Calcutta University event

The students of University of Calcutta have barred some prominent Bangladeshis to join a programme on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Bengal Library Council of the university.

Being invited, some representatives from Bangladesh had arrived in Kolkata. However, the students of the university objected to this and approached the acting vice-chancellor. They claimed that no Bangladeshi personalities should be allowed to attend the event.

Later, to avoid any unrest, the university authorities requested the Bangladeshi invitees to attend the programme virtually while the council meeting will be held again in February next year at Dhaka University. Guests from India will also be invited there. As a result, there is a fear that the Calcutta University incident may affect the programme in Dhaka. Meanwhile, acting vice-chancellor of Calcutta University Shanta Dutta Dey said: "Bangladeshi representatives were not allowed to come to Calcutta University. Students said that Bangladesh is insulting them every day. That is why they objected to Bangladeshis coming to the campus."

In view of the students’ objections, the acting vice-chancellor said ‘no’ to the participation of Bangladeshi citizens in the Calcutta University programme. He said: “First we tried to convince the students. But later we realized that the security of the campus is the prime issue. We do not want any damage to the campus. We also thought about the security of the Bangladeshi guests. Therefore, the organizers have been asked to hold this programme excluding the citizens of Bangladesh."

Regarding this, famous Indian singer Kabir Suman said: “I am ashamed. I condemn it. The students who did this have done wrong.”

Eminent professor Ashok Chakraborty said: “Those who are doing this kind of behavior are not only doing wrong to the guests Bangladesh. Rather, they are also humiliating their own country to foreign countries.”

The three-day programme began on Friday. Four people from Bangladesh came to Kolkata at the invitation of the organizers.

The Bengali Library Council was established under the first presidency of world poet Rabindranath Tagore. The Bengal Library Council began its journey on December 20, 1925, to strengthen the library movement in the then undivided Bengal.