In an apparent softening of stance, agitating students of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) on Wednesday unilaterally called off their 139-day-old strike, but made it clear that their protest against the appointment of TV actor Gajendra Chauhan as the institute’s chairman would continue. They also ruled out any “proactive engagement” with the I&B Ministry until the issue of appointment of Chauhan, best known for his role of Yudhishthir in teleserial Mahabharata, and four other FTII society members, gets resolved.
FTII Students’ Association (FSA) representative Vikas Urs said the students have taken a collective decision to go back to academics with “immediate effect” in the best interest of the fraternity. Referring to FSA’s talks with the I&B Ministry, which could not end the stalemate, Urs said the ministry conveyed the impression that it had no mandate to take a decision in the matter.
“Now, it goes beyond the five appointments (of Chauhan and four FTII society members) which we had questioned. The right wing attitude is exposed and we know who is running the country,” he said, apparently targeting BJP’s ideological mentor RSS. He said: “Although the FSA has decided to call off the strike, the students will not have any proactive engagement with the ministry until the appointments issue is resolved.”
When asked how students would react to Chauhan’s taking charge, another FSA respresentative Rakesh Shukla said: “Our protest has been peaceful so far and it will continue like that. He is not acceptable to us.”
Urs said the students would now “expand and take their battle forward” after having been successful in making the common man understand the concerns raised by them. Another FSA representative Yashaswi said: “The government was stifling voice of dissent and adopting repressive measures. There is a clear attempt to impose one ideology.”