Mamata demands Tagore's name inclusion in UNESCO plaques for Santiniketan's heritage status

Kolkata, Oct 28 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday urged the Centre to remove the plaques on UNESCO World Heritage Site status to Santiniketan.

Banerjee said the plaques do not bear the name of Visva-Bharati founder Rabindranath Tagore, which is an insult to the Nobel laureate.

"Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore created a world heritage site (now recognised by UNESCO) at Santiniketan - Visva Bharati, but the current institutional authorities there have arranged site memorial plaques on this occasion which display even the Vice Chancellor's name but not the name of Gurudev," Banerjee said on X.

"This insults Tagore and belittles the anti-colonial heritage-creating efforts of our Nation's founding fathers. The central government will be well advised to remove this narcissistic display of arrogant self-exhibitionism forthwith and to give Gurudev the tribute that the country owes to him," she said.

A huge controversy was triggered after the central university authorities put up marble plaques, which had the names of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is also its chancellor, and vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty, but did not mention the name of Tagore.

Santiniketan was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List on September 17. PTI SCH RBT