The Pune police on Monday filed a charge sheet against 35 students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) for purportedly holding FTII Director >Prashant Pathrabe ‘hostage’ in his cabin for several hours in August last year.
All were granted bail; while five had been given bail earlier, the remaining 30 were given regular bail today.
“There are a total 35 students against whom the charge sheet has been filed. Five of them, arrested on the intervening night of August 18-19, had been released on bail earlier. 30 students, including 12 who were out on anticipatory bail, were given regular bail,” Defense Counsel Shrikant Shivade said.
Mr. Shivade moved a bail plea for the 30 students in the court of first class judicial magistrate S.S. Bangad, who granted bail to all of them on a personal bond of Rs. 3,000 each.
The Deccan Gymkhana police, probing the case, had filed the charge sheet. The next hearing is to be held on April 2, the prosecution said.
Last week, the police, after viewing the footage of Mr. Pathrabe’s alleged confinement, had issued fresh notices to 18 new students in connection with the case, in addition to the 17 named in the original FIR, which drew condemnatory responses from the FTII Students’ Association (FSA).
The Pune police had launched a midnight crackdown, storming the FTII premises in August last year at the height of the students’ agitation against the contentious appointment of TV actor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party person >Gajendra Chauhan as FTII chairman . They had arrested five students and levelled charges against 12 more.
The ostensible reason for the police swoop, which soon snowballed into a political storm, was that an angry group of students had allegedly held FTII Director Prashant Pathrabe hostage in his cabin for several hours in protest against the latter’s decision to push through with a “controversial assessment” of the incomplete diploma projects of about 50 students belonging to the 2008 batch.
Those arrested were booked under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 143, 147, 149, 323, 353 and 506, dealing with offences, some of them non-bailable, related to unlawful assembly, criminal intimidation and rioting.
FTII Limbo
Gajendra Chauhan, an actor-turned-politician, was appointed as the chairman of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) on June 9, 2015. His appointment triggered an >indefinite strike by students of the institute on June 12.
Who is Chauhan?
Mr. Chauhan is best known as 'Yudhisthira' in the Mahabharata TV series aired on television in 1988-90. He has been associated with BJP for over two decades but formally joined the party in 2004.
Why protest?
Students of FTII have questioned Mr. Chauhan's body of work and "creative credentials." The students doubt if Mr. Chauhan can fit in the shoes of predecessors like R.K. Laxman, Syam Benegal, Girish Karnad and U.R. Ananthamurthy.
Political vendetta?
Students claim that Mr. Chauhan's appointment is an attempt of the ruling party to foist its right-wing agenda upon the Institute.
Supporters
Besides, prominent film personalities, All India Students' Association (AISA), the Kolkata-based Satyajit Ray Film Institute, and students at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) are all coming out strongly in support of the striking students.
If they don't want you, they don't want you. Pushing for the chairmanship is getting you no where. Let self pride play a role and retire
- >Rishi Kapoor
FTII needs to be in safe hands. Students need somebody who they can trust and look up to. It's their future which is at stake here.
>- Rajkumar Rao
This is something we should be talking about and by this we will clearly know that it is a mistake and that he has no credentials...If I would have been in place of Chauhan and I would have seen that my fraternity does not want me, I would have withdrawn.
>- Amol Palekar
Don't think what the students are asking for is illogical, don't think they are asking for the moon. They are just asking for a fair chance, a fair opportunity, correct faculty, correct syllabus.
- Ranbir Kapoor
I have neither been approached by students nor by authorities. But being an alumnus of this institute to which I owe my film career, I am more than willing to step in and sort out matters if given the chance to do so.
- >Shatrughan Sinha
Prominent chairmen
Anwar Jamal Kidwai (1974 - 1977)
First chairman, founder of Mass Communication Research centre at Jamia Millia Islamia.
>R.K. Laxman (1977- 1980)
Legendary cartoonist, Padma Bhushan, Vibhushan. Known for creating the character "Common Man".
> Shyam Benegal (1981 - 1983) (1989 - 1992)
Known for pioneering parallel cinema. Recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke Award among others.
> Mahesh Bhatt (1995- 1998)
Award-winning director, screenwriter, producer in mainstream Hindi cinema.
>U.R. Ananthamurthy (2005-2008) (2008-2011)
Eminent author, Padma Bhushan. Pioneered Navya movement in Kannada language.
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