End strike or face action, FTII students warned

In a letter to the president of the FTII Students’ Association, the Director, D.J. Narain, warned of strong administrative action, even rustication.

A staff member walks past a graffiti-painted wall of an administrative office at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune.

With students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) continuing their strike, its Director issued notice to them on Wednesday to call off the protest or face serious action.

It is the first such official notice since the strike began on June 12 over the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as Chairman of the institute.

In a letter to the president of the FTII Students’ Association, the Director, D.J. Narain, warned of strong administrative action, even rustication.

“The students must understand that the strike is not leading them anywhere and realise that any disciplinary action like rustication is a serious matter. This formal warning was necessary as tomorrow they should not say that it wasn’t communicated to them,” Mr. Narain said.

He clarified that he was not acting under pressure from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

The students have been demanding the revocation of Mr. Chauhan’s appointment on grounds that he has “grossly limited creative credentials”. They want the FTII governing council dissolved saying many of its members were Sangh Parivar propagandists with no artistic conception or vision.

Members of the film fraternity have been supporting the students, and have urged Mr. Chauhan to step down. Though it was said that the Ministry and the students would start talks, the issue of the warning indicates a stiffening of the Ministry’s resolve and its refusal to give in to the students’ demands.