Row after Rajnath Singh presented goddess idol at Visva Bharati University

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited the Visva Bharati University as the chief guest for the annual convocation ceremony, where he also interacted with the students. Protests broke out at the varsity after Singh was gifted an idol of a goddess following the event.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh gifted an idol of Goddess Tara at the Visva Bharati University in Bengal (Photo: India Today)

By Anupam Mishra: A controversy erupted after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was gifted an idol of Goddess Tara at the Visva Bharati University in West Bengal’s Santiniketan town.

The defence minister on Friday presided over the annual convocation ceremony of the central university as its chief guest.

The university, founded by the first non-European Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Thakur (popularly known as Tagore), does not allow idols to be worshipped.

Meanwhile, the students at the university have said the defence minister was not aware of the culture as he was an outsider at the institute.

However, the local BJP leadership should have been aware that the university only worships ‘Brahma’, they said.

The students further said the local leadership should apologise for gifting the idol to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, an act which, they said, has insulted the ideologies of Rabindranath.

Posters of Vice Chancellor Vidyut Chakraborty were put up at the university premises and demands were raised to remove Chakraborty from his post.

In his address to students, the defence minister described the Visva Bharati University as a ‘temple of learning’, where India meets the world.

He also urged the students of the institute to be humanists like its founder Rabindranath Tagore, “whose thoughts and philosophy continue to influence Indian society”.