Dilip Sinha (centre) being produced in court. Picture by Amit Datta

Santiniketan, June 25: Waves of despair and shame rippled through the Visva-Bharati community as news of the arrests did the rounds on the campus.

However, anger overpowered shock in the arrest of a former vice-chancellor and an allegedly fraudulent lecturer as the varsity condemned the “crime” in unison.

“There is no question of forgetting or forgiving any of the culprits, however highly placed they may have been,” said a member of the academic circle.

The hurt was equal, from the youngest student and staff member to the octogenarian ashramite, as they reacted to reports of the swoop on former vice-chancellor Dilip Sinha and ex-math lecturer Mukti Deb.

“The arrests, first in the history of Visva-Bharati, have severely tarnished the image of Gurudev’s dream abode. We had never imagined that we would have to witness such a shameful episode. We are hurt,” said Supriyo Mukherjee, an ashramite in his mid 80s.

As demeaning as the entire process may be, most said they had anticipated the outcome and were therefore not surprised.

“The incident is an insult to the values of education and academics, a resounding slap on every educated human being. Hurtful as it is, the arrests do not astound us,” said Somendranath Banerjee, a Bengali teacher and an ashramite in his seventies.

“From the discussions I had with Sinha, as well as from what I had heard of him from others, I have to say that if there was a person who could bring shame to the house of Tagore, it would be him,” he added.

Others, who regard the campus as a refuge of sanctity, seethed. “This is regarded as a temple of education and culture,” Mukherjee said. “Whoever tries to damage the edifice of faith, the pillar of our heritage, deserves the most exemplary punishment.”

The students, who are now busy with examinations, are being shielded from the storm that lashed Visva-Bharati today. But it could not have spared them. “If a teacher sets such an example, what are we students expected to learn?” asked a student of Vinoy Bhavan, the BEd and physical education section.