Shantiniketan : PM Modi and Bangladesh PM address Visva Bharti University

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina along with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ware attending the convocation ceremony of the Visva Bharati University in West Bengal on Friday.

This will be the first time a West Bengal chief minister is attending the varsity’s convocation since Siddhartha Shankar Ray in the 1970s. In a break from tradition, Banerjee would be on the dais; Ray was not invited to the dais at the time. University Rector and Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi were also present at the convocation.

Students chanted ‘Modi Modi’ which is unprecedented in the convocation hall. Chaos broke out as students broke barricades to get near to the stage.

West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh, BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha and party leader Mukul Roy also present at the event.

PM Modi said, “While coming to the stage, I was remembering Rabindra Nath Tagore. He would have talked with Mahatma Gandhi and students here.”

“Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is present with us. India and Bangladesh are two separate countries, but our interests are connected. Be it culture or public policy, we learn a lot from each other. One such example is Bangladesh Bhavan,” PM Modi said.

“I want Visva Bharati to reach out to over 100 villages and help them evolve,” said PM Modi

PM Modi said, “Tagore will always be remembered as a global citizen. When I went to Tajikistan, I got the opportunity to unveil Rabindra Nath Tagore’s statue. Tagore used to believe that every person is born to do something in life. Educating students is very much important to give them the right path so that they can reach the right destination. He used to say that education is not given in school and colleges only, but in many ways.”

Narendra Modi said, “Government is continuously working towards the needs of ‘New India’ along with Tagore’s vision. Coming Budget, an amount of Rs 1 lakh will be spent for the improvement of the education system in India.”

PM Narendra Modi and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina inaugurate Bangladesh Bhavan in #SantiNiketan. #WestBengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also present pic.twitter.com/bqFO3XpHnI

— ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2018

Sabujkali Sen, the acting vice-chancellor of the Santiniketan-based university, said that usually, only the chancellor, vice-chancellor and rector stand on the dais during the convocation ceremony. “Late Siddhartha Shankar Ray was the last West Bengal chief minister to have attended the ceremony in 1975 or 1976. Mamata Banerjee will be on the dais along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. University Rector and Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi will also be present,” Sen said Thursday.

On reaching Santiniketan Thursday, Mamata said, “I was unaware that I will be the first Bengal CM to be present on the dais.”

The Bangladesh Bhavan will house a museum, auditorium, library and cafeteria. Modi and Hasina are scheduled to hold talks there after the inauguration. Sources said the two are likely to discuss issues like Teesta water-sharing, cross-border terrorism and the migration of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar to Bangladesh.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s two-day official visit to West Bengal, is expected to further cement the enduring cultural links between the two countries. She came here to attend the convocations of two renowned universities in West Bengal, the Visva-Bharati in Santiniketan and Kazi Nazrul University in Asansol. The two universities are named after, and greatly inspired by, the life and works of the two most celebrated poets in India and Bangladesh, Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam. While Nobel Laureate Tagore is the composer of the national anthem of both countries, a unique instance in the world, Nazrul, the rebel poet, is the national poet of Bangladesh.

“Rohingyas have taken shelter in Bangladesh. We’ve given them a place on humanitarian grounds. We want them to return to their country as early as possible. I request you to help us to interact with Myanmar so that they take Rohingyas back,” said Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina.

Sheikh Hasina said, “Rabindranath Tagore belongs to both the countries because he has written the national anthems of both the nations. He wrote most of his poems in Bangladesh and that is why we can claim a greater right over him.”

Image Source – indianexpress.com