Pune protest wave hits SRFTI campus

KOLKATA: The protest to remove Gajendra Chauhan as the chairman of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) has spilled over the Pune campus and reached Kolkata. Students of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) have decided to boycott their classes on Monday to show solidarity with FTII students.
Protesting the appointment of Chauhan, SRFTI’s student association president Ateesh Chattopadhyay said, “SRFTI and FTII are two film schools that are governed by the I&B ministry.We consider ourselves to be a sister institute of FTII. So it is important for us to stand by FTII students. We want to get heard. Gone are the days when students would accept whatever was thrown at them. Look at what happened with JU. The hokkolorob movement showed the world that if the demand is correct, people will show support.” Students of SRFTI are also open to allowing people from outside their institute join in this protest.
Niranjan Kujur, former president of the students association of SRFTI, will also be there at Monday’s protest. “If FTII students haven’t been heard after so many days of class boycott, we need to stand by them,” Kujur said.
Meanwhile, SRFTI students have sent a letter to the FTII students saying: “A position that has the responsibility of taking crucial decisions in regard to our syllabi and functioning of the institute cannot be taken lightly. After having announced that the institute will be made the ‘Centre for Excellence’, there was a hope for having upgraded academic and physical infrastructure. The steps taken in reality unfortunately contradict that.”
Drawing reference to the attack on FTII students by AVBP members, the letter says: “The appointment of Chauhan seems to be a step taken to ensure that the same group of people, who had tried to silence the rights of the students by brute force, can sneak in the guise of officials to ensure compliance to the draconian order.” This letter will also be circulated online soon.
“At a time when voices that refuse to fall in line are being marginalized, it is important for the student community to unite and preserve the democratic space that we know our campuses to be,” said Prashant R, general secretary of the SRFTI students’ association.
Meanwhile, social media erupted with anti-Chauhan posts, graffiti and even videos of not-so-flattering clips from his Bollywood outings.