According to the letter, Bhattacharya was on December 22 told about his “discontinuation of service/contract with Visva Bharati” in a meeting of the executive council of the central university….reports Asian Lite News
Renowned American linguist Noam Chomsky, along with over 250 academics, have written to Indian President Draupadi Murmu, informing her about the service termination of Visva Bharati professor Sudipta Bhattacharya over “undesirable” actions, and seeking her intervention, media reported.
The letter, dated January 9, described the action by Visva Bharati as brazenly “illegal”, arguing that no proper inquiry was conducted to verify the “list of misconducts” flagged by the university as having been allegedly committed by Bhattacharya on different occasions, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
According to the letter, Bhattacharya was on December 22 told about his “discontinuation of service/contract with Visva Bharati” in a meeting of the executive council of the central university.
“A series of misconducts has been listed without specifying the dates and other details of the incident or the specific actions for which Professor Bhattacharya has been indicted. It is clear that no proper inquiry was conducted by the university authorities before initiating draconian disciplinary action against a university professor and office-bearer of the faculty association.
“Neither has there been a show cause notice issued to the professor concerned,” stated the letter, undersigned by Chomsky, economist Amiya Bagchi, former director of Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Partha Chatterjee, XLRI Professor Sumit Sarkar and Jadavpur University Emeritus Professor Supriya Chaudhury among others.
It pointed out that the termination order for Bhattacharya is indicative of how the norms, laws and procedures governing Visva Bharati are being “violated under the leadership of its current vice chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty”.