Responding to the controversy following media reports that Visva Bharati has named him among those occupying additional illegal plot, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has said that the entire land occupied by him is registered in records and is entirely on long term lease. In a mail to the media on Friday, Sen also referred to a big yawn between the culture espoused in Santiniketan and that of the VC, apparently "empowered" by the government at the Centre. The Nobel laureate asserted that the Visva Bharati land on which his house is situated is entirely on a long-term lease, which is nowhere near its expiry. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is standing by Sen, had earlier expressed anguish at recent developments alluding to the world renowned economist's familial properties in Shantiniketan. We urge him not to be used by anti-development political forces in West Bengal," Ghosh told reporters.

Source: Mint December 26, 2020 14:15 UTC