Two days after the agitating students of the Film and Television Institute of India called off their 139-day strike over the controversial appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the institute’s chairman, a section of the FTII staff are at loggerheads with the students with the former alleging that the latter vandalised the FTII Radio office following a night of “drunken revelry”.
According to Sanjay Chandekar, head, FTII Radio, a signboard and a few banners that are part of the department, were allegedly found ripped and strewn across the ground on Thursday morning. Sources alleged that following their decision to return to academics, students allegedly partied late into the night under the symbolic ‘Wisdom Tree’.
Pointing fingers at the students, a security man, too, claimed the alleged vandalism was their handiwork.
“While we certainly do not endorse what happened, the incident has nothing to do with the protest against Mr. Chauhan. This is an internal administrative issue and has to be viewed as such. We are not aware which of the students did this as has been alleged,” said Harishankar Nachimuthu, president, FTII Students’ Association (FSA).
Following this, a general warning was issued to the students as well as the FSA on Friday to desist from indulging in such acts.
However, there has been little love lost between Mr. Chandekar, who heads the largely dysfunctional radio department, and the students, during the course of the epic strike.
Earlier in July, a month into the agitation against Mr. Chauhan’s appointment, Mr. Chandekar, along with other institute staffers, had formed the ‘Save FTII’ forum, wherein they expressed “grave reservations” over the students’ “anarchic” behaviour, accusing them of being “extremely disrespectful”, even towards eminent visiting faculty, and “highly indisciplined”.
Mr. Chandekar had further alleged that the students not only turned a deaf ear but had in turn “threatened” him.
Speaking to The Hindu , Vikars Urs, spokesman, FSA, said that throughout the course of their agitation, the students had been variously slandered as “anti-Hindu”, “mentally-challenged”, “weed-smoking and alcoholic Leftists” by several parties, intent on crushing the strike by harping on the personal traits of the agitators.
