Youth Congress to join FTII protests starting in the capital today
Following Rahul Gandhi's visit to show his support to the FTII students at Pune, his party's youth wing NSUI will join the protests in the Capital.
The Film and Television Institute of India students will bring their protest against the appointment of TV actor Gajendra Chauhan as chairman to Delhi on Monday amid concerns in the government over the way the prestigious institute is being run. After Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi supported the FTII students in Pune on July 31, the party's youth wing NSUI will join their cause in Delhi.
"We will support the FTII students who will stage protest march at Jantar Mantar," said NSUI president Roji M John, who had accompanied Rahul to the institute.
Congress sources said the party was scaling up its efforts to help the striking students, who claim Chauhan is a political appointee.
These students had earlier met Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley seeking Chauhan's removal but their demand was rejected.
Sources said the minister had assured all possible help to the students while detailing out his plans for a thorough revamp of the institute.
The issue has become a political tug of war between the government and the Congress with Rahul accusing the RSS of pushing mediocrity and the BJP questioning his own position.
Government sources blamed the students for the two-month strike and said the FTII has been poorly managed in the past.
Sources said the institute has been affected by several strikes, mostly on flimsy grounds, over the past few decades and there have been various law and order situations on the campus.
"There have been 39 protests and five hunger strikes in the past 55 years which have affected the academic atmosphere at the institute," said a government source.
Sources said the strikes have happened over trivial issues like introduction of a new subject in 1996, specialisation course in 1971 and 1976, fines for leaving campus without permission in 1989, acting course in 1974 and later over its closure in 1978, syllabus in 2000 and such similar grounds.
Recently, the newly-appointed director Prashant Pathrabe had warned the striking students that action would be taken against them if they did not go back to the classes.
"They first go to the director, then to the governing council, to the ministry and when no one listens or agrees with them, they go on strike," a source cited a comment from former FTII director Mohan Agashe, a well-known actor.
Former FTII dean Iftekhar Ahmed observed in a report that projects were not completed in time as students postponed shooting schedules.
Further, around 40 students from 2008 and 2009 batches are staying in hostel even after completing their courses, resulting in a space crunch.