Can’t perform outside without approval, Visva-Bharati tells music teachers

Sangit Bhavana, one of many oldest wings of the Rabindranath Tagore-founded Visva-Bharati, has barred its school members from taking part in any occasion outside the college without permission.

Teachers are usually not solely indignant in regards to the order, calling it “caging of their freedom”, but additionally the “casual manner” it was served on them. The discover, printed on a plain piece of paper and signed by the principal of Sangit Bhavana on Sunday, was circulated on the WhatsApp group of the college members, in accordance with a instructor.

It warned school members of “stern action” in the event that they accepted “any request/proposal/assignment, etc. from any outside personnel/institution/organisation to perform/represent any online/offline programme course, etc. without approval of the competent authority”.

This is the newest within the string of unpopular choices taken by the Visva-Bharati ever since Prof. Bidyut Chakrabarty took over because the Vice-Chancellor in November 2018. A gag order is already in place prohibiting any worker from talking to the media.

“They have already constructed high walls in Visva-Bharati in the name of protecting Tagore’s institution, now they are extending that wall to cut us off from the rest of the world,” a music instructor instructed The Puucho, requesting to not be named. “This is the time of a pandemic; this is also the time of our vacation. Why should it matter to the authorities what we do with our free time in our personal capacity?”

Sangit Bhavana has almost 60 school members; these specialising in Rabindra Sangit (Tagore’s songs) are normally wanted throughout cultural occasions celebrating Tagore. “During the pandemic, with so many people dying, many have found Tagore’s songs to be a balm and invited us to perform online, something that has obviously not gone down well with the authorities,” mentioned the instructor.

A senior academician who cherishes his previous affiliation with the college mentioned: “It is fair to say Visva-Bharati is known the world over not in other disciplines but for Kala Bhavana and Sangit Bhavana. Tagore himself had taken teachers and students to faraway places for such performances. So selectively targeting Sangit Bhavana smacks of an effort to obliterate the Tagorean tradition itself.”

The academician added: “It seems the ‘competent authority’ is to give approval. I would imagine the authority to be occupied with innumerable academic and administrative matters. So, is a teacher expected to be in the hot pursuit of such an approval to come, even for an event, say, in nearby Burdwan University? What a waste of precious time would that be?”