FTII strike completes 100 days today; pan-India events planned

Although the strike has found support from ex-students and a section of film fraternity, it is yet to achieve its objective.

THE STRIKE by students of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) to oppose the appointment of TV actor Gajendra Chauhan and four others on the FTII Society will complete 100 days on Saturday. Although the strike has found support from ex-students and a section of film fraternity, it is yet to achieve its objective of forcing the government to revoke the appointments of Chauhan and four others with links to BJP or RSS and putting in place a system to make future appointments transparent.

While students have had three rounds of talks with Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry in last three months, they have failed to break the deadlock. Although the three-member fact-finding committee sent to the institute last month has submitted its report, there has been no action by the Ministry, which has neither made the report public. So far, five students had to be hospitalised due to the relay hunger strike since September 10.

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Meanwhile, students have made elaborate plans for the 100th day of the strike. Ex-students and artists from Mumbai, Hyderabad and other cities are expected to visit the campus on Saturday. Films will be screened accompanied by discussions. Rakesh Shukla, a student, said, “Similar events are lined up in Delhi, Bangalore, Patna, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Lucknow, Muzaffarpur and Kolkata. These include protest marches, film screenings and art exhibitions.”