India’s West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has directed state ministers to stage a sit-in outside Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's home in Santiniketan to protest the Visva-Bharati University's eviction notice, reports NDTV.
During a cabinet meeting, Mamata instructed the ministers to organize a demonstration with folk artists, cultural programs, and not move from the location even if bulldozers were sent to take over the property, it said.
Education Minister Bratya Basu and Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim will join MSME Minister Chandranath Sinha, the local MLA, who will lead the protest.
She had also previously announced that she would start a sit-in in Santiniketan over the issue.
Visva-Bharati had sent an eviction notice to Mr Sen, who is holding 1.38 acres of land on the Santiniketan campus.
The university alleges that this is more than his legal entitlement of 1.25 acres, while Mr Sen has maintained that most of the land he owns was bought by his father from the market.
Singer Kabir Suman and painter Subhaprasanna will join the program on May 6 and 7, according to the official, who quoted the Chief Minister.