As members of management council press for further action against Lalit Kala Kendra HoD; alumni, sections of SPPU faculty gather in his support

A firm demand to send the head of the Lalit Kala Kendra, Pravin Bhole on compulsory leave was made in the meeting. Meanwhile, staff, students and alumni have made public statements for the protection of academic autonomy and freedom of thought and expression in the university.

Faculty members of the university attended a meeting with the vice chancellor on February 7 to put forward their several demands including action against ‘anti-social elements’ which disrupted the theatre assignment in question and legal recourse by university to retract the legal cases against the students and HoD Pravin Bhole.

“At least 60 percent of faculty members are in support.” said Harsh Jagzap, elected senate member and representative of the university teachers’ association.

A letter was earlier sent by faculty members and heads of various departments of the university on the matter, condemning the six arrests and calling the incident “a serious breach of academic autonomy of the university”.

Late Tuesday evening, a statement from some alumni of the Lalit Kala Kendra was released, “strongly condemning the disruption, violence, damage and trauma that the department students, faculty, examiners and members of the audience faced” on February 2.

Artists and alumni like Anjali Patil and Mitali Jagtap Varadkar have endorsed the statement. “It is deeply distressing that a department where students are taught Indian classical dance and music which are considered the art forms of gods is being accused of festering anti-religious or ‘anti-national’ sentiments. We condemn the way not only the students and a committed teacher have been targeted but also the mud slinging on the department as a whole.”

At least 50-60 alumni of the department are associated with this unofficial statement. Some Ambedkarite student groups intended to hold a protest march on February 8 with retraction of cases against the six members of Lalit Kala Kendra as one of their demands. The protest however has been postponed at the request of the Commissioner of Police.

A fact finding committee headed by retired district judge Srikrishna Panse constituted by the university to investigate the matter held its first meeting on February 7. The committee comprises actor-director Pravin Tarde, Devidas Waidande, Vinayak Ambekar, Jyoti Bhakre, Kranti Deshmukh and registrar-in-charge Vijay Khare. The final report is expected to be presented to the vice chancellor by the first week of March.