Seven persons would be conferred Desikottama by the Prime Minister at the December 6 convocation. Despite the situation after the Mumbai terror attack, Visva-Bharati officials are hopeful the PM would make it to Santiniketan.

Addressing the press on Sunday, Visva-Bharati V-C Rajat Kanta Roy declared the names of the recipients of the Desikottama once again, but he did not take the name of the former Bhutan king. “His name is not in this list. His name had been proposed, but it was deleted later,” Roy revealed.

Roy said such lists can be changed whenever required and even the present list could be changed. Roy blamed the media for publishing premature news of the inclusion of the former king among the honour’s recipients. The current list of seven includes economist and former V-B vice-chancellor Amlan Dutta, economist Jan Drez, historian Irfan Habib, theatre maestro Habib Tanvir, scholar Rodam Narashima, painter K G Subhramaniya and social activist Deviprasad. A couple of weeks ago, a highly placed

V-B official had told TOI that the former Bhutan king had been chosen as he had brought democracy to that country.

According to sources, two letters had been sent to the former king through the Bhutan embassy, informing him about the honour. But before sending the letter, the official formalities were not maintained. So finally, his name was dropped by the PMO. A V-B official said the letter should have been sent after receiving a clearance from the foreign affairs ministry.

The Times of India