A clash broke out between members of Hindutva outfits and students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) on Tuesday over a banner put up by the FTII Students’ Association on the institute premises, which said the Babri masjid demolition was against the Constitution. The police said the banner was set on fire by the members of the right-wing Hindutva outfits. After the incident, heavy police deployment was made inside and outside the campus. The police also deployed riot control vans and quick response teams. The Deccan Gymkhana police said the incident took place around 1.30 pm on the FTII campus, which is located on Law College Road in Pune city. “Preliminary probe has revealed that a banner was displayed on the campus by the FTII Students’ Association. Our information also suggests that screening of a film and an exhibition of photos related to the history of the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi issue was also organised on the campus,” said an officer from Deccan Gymkhana police station. Based on the complaint filed by Sanjay Jadhav (54), a security officer posted at the FTII, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered later in the evening against 12 to 15 persons who had entered the campus. “Investigation has revealed that the members of the group do not belong to one outfit but multiple Hindutva right-wing groups based in Pune. We are in the process of identifying all the persons who were part of the group,” the officer said. The FIR states, “Around 1.30 pm, a group of 12 to 15 persons gathered outside the FTII campus in an unauthorised manner. They were asking how FTII students can be involved in ‘anti-national’ acts. They manhandled the security personnel and entered the campus illegally and were chanting slogans. They were asking the students why they were doing ‘anti-national’ acts. They thrashed the students and pulled down and tore the banner and set it on fire and also threatened the students.” When contacted, senior inspector Vipin Hasabnis, in-charge of Deccan Gymkhana police station, said, “As soon as we received information, teams were dispatched. Our personnel intervened and brought the situation under control.” The police said while no arrests were made in the case till late on Tuesday, notices will be issued to those who are identified and they will be asked to present themselves before the police. Another officer from the police station said, “Some people have approached us and given a complaint application against the FTII students for putting up the banner. They also claimed that the FTII students assaulted the group that had entered the premises. These allegations are being verified.” When asked if anyone was injured in the incident, the police said some people had been sent for medical examination and the reports revealed no serious injuries. The police have invoked IPC sections pertaining to unlawful assembly, rioting, causing hurt, trespassing, damage to property and criminal intimidation. Pravin Padwal, member of a Hindutva outfit named Samastha Hindu Bandhav, who was part of the group, said, “What FTII students had written on the banner was against India. We were asking them to take down the banner but they did not. So we had to pull it down and burn it.” Documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, whose Ram Ke Naam was screened at the institute on Monday, said he was aware of the screening and had a chat with FTII students on Zoom. “A similar incident occurred yesterday in Kerala regarding the screening of the same movie. Just a day before yesterday, three organisers in Hyderabad were arrested by the police for the screening of a movie in a restaurant,” he said. While calling the incident an attack on freedom of expression, he said that the movie is legal and has been watched by the whole nation.
