Pune: As the FTII Mahabharat picks up speed, the students have ruled out any compromise with anyone. They’re are protesting against the TV actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of the institute and are demanding his removal
FTII Students’ Association (FSA) leader Vikas Urs held a press conference after his bail, saying that it should be the Information and Broadcasting ministry which needs to dilute its hard posture on the controversial appointment.
“We are ready and willing for any dialogue but we will not compromise on our demands.”
Referring to the dramatic midnight police crackdown on the students, Urs said it amounted to “criminalisation” by the FTII administration which had lost all credibility.
“The midnight crackdown was sinister by its very design and execution. It was a step by the state to give a taste of its medicine to dissidents,” said Kislay Gonzalvez, a former student participating in the protests.
“If they think they can stop our protest by these undemocratic means, they are wrong. It will only increase our solidarity and strength,” he said.
Earlier, five students were arrested from the campus late on Tuesday night for rioting after they “gheraoed” the institute’s director Prashant Pathrabe to his chamber on Monday.
The government has formed a three-member team, headed by the Registrar of Newspapers in India (RNI) SM Khan, to assess the ground situation in FTII and end the impasse, with all academic activity at a standstill as the protest entered its 70th day.
(with inputs from PTI)