Honouring Abhijit Banerjee a great moment, says Dhankar, but evades question about his presence at CU convocation
Kolkata/UNI: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar on Wednesday denied controversy over his presence in the convocation ceremony of Calcutta University in which Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee will also be conferred the honorary D Litt.
Evading a direct reply to questions as to whether he would attend the function on Jan 28, he said: "Anyone who can be there, has to be there."
"What controversy can be there when one of the brilliant minds of the world, a son of West Bengal, who received Nobel Prize, is being honoured?" asked the Governor, also the university Chancellor.
"It is a joyous moment for the city of joy, for all of us. We are in a delightful mode... he has done all of us very proud.. he has helped the world," Dhankar said adding he had read Banerjee's ideas on economics in a leading newspaper and found them "very enlightening".
"We must salute the son of our soil. What controversy can be there in this? There cannot be any controversy," the Governor reiterated.
However, when the reporters insisted on a reply, Dhankar said, "Anyone who can be there, I think has to be there. This is a moment of pride for all of us. Let us not look into negative aspects."
On Dec 24, controversy erupted when the Governor had to retreat from the gates of Jadavpur University after a section of students blocked his convoy ahead of the varsity's convocation ceremony.
In a tweet, the Governor had crticised the Vice-Chancellor of the university for remaining in "passive mode" and being a "silent spectator" to the "unseemly spectacle that augurs painful sliding of our system".
He had also pointed out that the entire episode was "politically motivated orchestration".
The day before, the students had shown black flags and gheraoed his car as he arrived at the university to attend a meeting.
After the incident, questions are being raised if Dhankar would be kept away from the convocation ceremony of Calcutta University where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would also be present.
Last month, while announcing Calcutta University's decision to confer D Litt on Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee, University Vice-Chancellor Sonali Chakraborty Banerjee had told the media that "everything will be decided according to the university statute".
However, she had not explained the statute followed for such occasions.
The Governor and the Trinamool Congress government have been tangled in a bitter war of words for some time.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
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