FTII protest intensifies

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Politicians, social activists, filmmakers, teachers and students’ organisations from Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Jawaharlal Nehru University and other universities gathered on the 53rd day of the strike by FTII students and alumni, to engage in a dialogue with the government and press for the removal of “unfit” people with “dubious credentials”. “It has been exactly a month since we met I&B Minister Arun Jaitley and since then there has been no response from the government. We want the removal of Chauhan, along with Anagha Ghaisas, Narendra Pathak, Rahul Solapurkar and Shailesh Gupta from the FTII Society. We also want a committee of experts to be constituted which suggest norms and guidelines for appointments,” said Kritka, an FTII student.

She said FTII Student Association president Harishankar Nachimuthu and spokesperson Vikas Urs had sought a meeting with Minister of State Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, but he wasn’t available.

Congress spokesperson Raj Babbar, JD(U) MP K C Tyagi and CPI-ML Politburo member Kavitha Krishnan also attended the protest. Tyagi released a statement by several MPs of various political parties condemning Chauhan’s appointment.

Besides politicians, theatre activist Arvind Gaur and his team, filmmakers Sanjay Kak, Rahul Roy and Nakul Singh Sawhney and DU academicians Apoorvanand and Mukul Manglik also spoke out against the BJP government’s move to “destroy” cultural institutions and reduce them to “mediocrity”.