Rabindra Bharati VC resigns over distortion of Tagore songs

The vice-chancellor of Kolkata-based Rabindra Bharati University (RBU) resigned on Friday night after an uproar that was triggered by distortion of Rabindranath Tagore's songs.

Earlier, photographs of some youngsters purportedly posing on campus with distorted lyrics of Rabindranath Tagore's songs written on their bodies went viral, reports The Indian Express.

One of the photographs doing the rounds on social media shows four women posing with their backs to the camera. Written on their backs using abir (coloured powder) is a combination of cuss words and lyrics from a Rabindra Sangeet — songs written and composed by Tagore.

This and several similar photographs were reportedly clicked during the Basanto Utsav organised on the university campus on Thursday.

Sources said vice-chancellor Sabyasachi Basu Roychowdhury has taken moral responsibility for the incident and sent his resignation to state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is also RBU's chancellor, and Higher Education Department secretary R S Shukla. Despite repeated attempts, the vice-chancellor was not available for comments.

Chatterjee, however, said he will not accept the resignation. "I want to know why he has tendered his resignation. I have not received the resignation yet. If I receive it, I will not accept it," he said.

Earlier in the day, RBU vice-chancellor Roychowdhury said, "It is very unfortunate that some students made efforts to degrade the culture of the university… We have lodged a complaint with the police who will now verify the pictures, identify the persons involved and take action accordingly. We will discuss this issue in our internal meeting and take a decision on whether to hold the spring festival in the future… However, none of these men and women are university students. They are outsiders."

Following the police complaint, five of the six accused persons went to the university and apologised to the authorities and the student council.