Students have taken good decision by calling off their strike: Gajendra Chauhan

Film and Television Institute of India chairman Gajendra Chauhan said that students have taken a good decision by calling off their strike against his appointment.

They also ruled out any “proactive engagement” with the Information and Broadcasting 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. The striking students ended the four month long strike and declared that they will start attending their classes, but will continue their protests for their demands. Also, former FTII students Prateek Vats and Vikrant Pawar returned their national awards in support of FTII students protest. “I would appeal to them not to take any such decision”. But there was no end to the stalemate.

Their protests even discovered the backing of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, whose go to to the FTII campus gave the difficulty a political twist. Even a slew of filmmakers and actors like Shyam Benegal, Jahnu Barua, Anupam Kher and Ranbir Kapoor, voiced their concern for the students. The government refused to buckle over Mr Chauhan, forcing the student community to blink. “We are planning a bigger battle”, another student said. Chauhan said he will soon form a governing council at the Pune-based institute.

To a question about possible victimisation of students, Shukla said, “We certainly have that fear”. However, our voices will not shut, but grow louder. “The protests shall continue democratically and in the peaceful manner as they have”, Kaur added.

The unilateral announcement came after repeated talks between the agitating students and Information & Broadcasting Ministry representatives failed to break the logjam, with both sides stubbornly refusing to budge from their conflicting positions on the issue of the removal of Chauhan.