Union Home Minister Amit Shah Tuesday said the ideals and thoughts of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore are relevant in present day India when narrow-mindedness has crept into politics, which is not in sync with the bard’s principles. Extolling Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s vibrant role in the country’s struggle for Independence, Shah said the National Education Policy (NEP) formulated by the BJP government at the Centre that advocates providing education in the mother tongue, is inspired by the poet’s ideas.

“The ideas of Kaviguru are still relevant in present-day India. The kind of narrow-mindedness that has crept in politics is not in sync with Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s thought and vision in regard to politics, social life and patriotism,” he said addressing a programme here on the occasion of Tagore’s 162nd birth anniversary.

Eulogising Tagore for building a world-class education institute Visva-Bharati at Santiniketan, Shah said the idea of it can be a guiding light for the education system not only in the country, but also the world.

“I have twice visited Santiniketan. I have read a lot about it. The idea of Santiniketan can be replicated not only in India but also across the world. There can be no better example of reviving ancient education with modern techniques. Rabindranath Tagore brought in a new idea of education which is relevant even today,” he said.

Visva-Bharati is an epitome of excellence and the idea behind it and its implementation “can provide a new path to educationists worldwide,” Shah added.

Visva-Bharati is the only central university in West Bengal and the prime minister is its chancellor. It was was founded by Tagore, Asia’s first Nobel laureate in 1921 and was declared to be a central university and an institution of national importance by an Act of Parliament in 1951.

Shah’s praise of Visva-Bharati came in the midst of a raging controversy over an eviction notice to noted economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, who has criticised the Narendra Modi government and the saffron party in the past on different issues. The central university has claimed that Sen, now abroad, is illegally occupying 0.13 acres out of the total 1.38-acre plot on which ‘Pratichi’ stands and asked him to vacate it by May 6, failing which he would be evicted. The economist moved Calcutta High Court against the notice and the court issued a stay on it. An appeal for a stay on possible eviction was fixed for hearing this month at a court in Suri in Birbhum district.

The ruling TMC mocked Shah’s praise of Visva-Bharati University. It wondered why the central university was trying to evict another Nobel laureate.

“Amit Shah Ji paid tribute to Gurudev and lauded his creation Visva-Bharati. Then why is the central university trying to evict Amartya Sen, another Nobel laureate who was named by none other than Gurudev himself? He should clarify it first,” senior TMC leader and state minister Shashi Panja said.

Earlier in the day, Shah inaugurated a fulldome film ‘Luminaries of Bengal’ at the Science City Auditorium and a son-et-lumiere show and exhibition on Abanindranath Tagore at the famed Victoria Memorial Hall.

“The true legacy of West Bengal lies in its people, who draw inspiration from the great minds and works of its luminaries. A fulldome film ‘Luminaries of Bengal’ and an exhibition on the contributions of Abanindranath Tagore to the Bengal Renaissance will uphold this tradition,” Shah later tweeted.