Police Raid FTII Campus At Midnight, Arrest Five Students
By Countercurrents.org
19 August, 2015
Countercurrents.org
A Police raid was conducted at midnight at Film And Television Institute of India ( FTII) against striking students and five students were arrested on false charges. The complaint was filed by the director of the institute , Prashant Pathrabe, after students gheraoed him on Monday protesting “irrational and unjustified” assessment of the incomplete diploma projects. Acting on a complaint filed by Mr. Pathrabe, police lodged an FIR against 15 students. The arrested students face charges of rioting under Section 353 of the IPC. Section 353 is non-bailable which means that students will be lodged in jail.
The list of 15 names in the FIR included three female students, who were not arrested. The FIR also mentions " 30 others" . Times of India reported that when asked to explain the late night swoop, a police officer told the students that they had been " instructed" to make the arrests.
To protest against the late night action by police, large number of students gathered on the campus and shouted slogans. They then gathered outside Deccan police station where others were brought in.
The arrests came amid 71 days of protest against the appointment of BJP member and TV actor Gajendra Chauhan as chairman FTII, India's premier film institute, in an effort to saffronize it by Hindutva forces.
The arrests were made flouting all norms of such police actions. There was no woman officer, no girls warden, no boys warden, and the Director himself was not present. FTII students said in a statement "such late night tactics and high handedness of the state truely reminds one of the dark times we are living in. Condemn the cowardly state action. This shows the true face of a fascist government."
Students and faculty have been objecting to the manner in which the final projects of the 2008 batch students were being assessed. While students say only 50 per cent of the 2008 batch students had completed their projects, the faculty had advised the director to put assessments on hold until the end of the strike. The students argue that it is a tactic by the government to break the strike. It was in this cotext Monday's gherao of the FTII director took place. The gherao was peaceful, however, the director called the police to remove the striking students.
Protest against the state attempt to suppress a democratic and peaceful struggle using force. Do call the Deccan Gymkhana police station where the arrested students are lodged and ask why have they arrested innocent students - Phone: 02025675005
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