Her film ‘All We Imagine As Light’, which garnered a standing ovation of more than 8 minutes, is a story that celebrates self-discovery and female solidarity. The story revolves around two Malayali nurses Prabha and Anu, both of whom are experiencing problems in their romantic lives. One day, the two nurses embark on a road trip to a beach town, where the mystical forest transforms into a realm where their dreams come to life.

After the news of the historic win emerged, many, including several Bollywood actors and filmmakers, took to social media to congratulate Kapadia. Kiara Advani, Anurag Kashyap, Radhika Apte, Swara Bhasker, Richa Chadha, Bhumi Pednekar, Shekhar Kapur and others lauded the young filmmaker for the feat.

Among these congratulatory posts were some posts that had highlighted the fight that Kapadia had led almost a decade ago, with her alma mater Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), which had costed her a scholarship, a foreign-exchange programme opportunity and a tag of being an “anti-national.”

A voice of dissent in 2015

In 2015, Kapadia was at the forefront of protest against the appointment of actor-turned-politician Gajendra Chauhan as the institute’s chairperson. Chauhan was best known for his portrayal of Yudhisthir in the mega TV serial ‘Mahabharat’, and was also alleged to have connections with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. According to the protesting students, Chauhan did not match the vision and stature of past chairmen of the FTII governing council, and his appointment appeared “politically coloured”.

The said protest at one of the most premiere film institutes had lasted more than four months, making it the longest demonstration in the institution’s history. Kapadia’s act of boycotting her classes as a form of protest led to the revocation of her scholarship by the institute.

On August 5, 2015, during the 68^th day of the aforementioned protest, while students were absent from classes and voicing their concerns through impassioned speeches, Prashant Pathrabe, the then-director of the FTII, had issued a notice to the 2008 batch students, demanding that they vacate the hostel due to overstaying. Furthermore, an order was issued to assess their film projects, the majority of which were incomplete. The students, deeming Pathrabe’s action “irrational and unjustified,” had then confronted him in his office with the aim to seek clarification. The protesting students surrounded his office, forming a human chain, and held him captive. In response, the police conducted a midnight crackdown, resulting in the arrest of five students. Approximately 35 students, including Kapadia, were later named in the charge sheet.

Consequently, despite being one of the most promising students of her batch, Kapadia was deprived of an opportunity to be on a coveted foreign exchange programme, as well as a scholarship of Rs 22,000. She also had to face a hate campaign against her that had deemed her to be an “anti-national”, asking her to “Go Back to Pakistan.”

It is to be noted that the said 35 students, which included Kapadia, had sections 143, 147, 149, 323, 353 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code invoked against them. The section dealt with offenses such as unlawful assembly, criminal intimidation and rioting. A Pune court had taken cognizance of the case and the chargesheet had been filed in the year 2016.

As per a report of Mathrubhumi, Advocate Chinmay Inamdar, who is defending the students in the case filed, said that the case remains pending in the Court. As stated by Inamdar, the prosecution had filed the chargesheet but not submitted the video file in the form of CD/DVD or pen drive of the incident of the director being gheraoed in 2015. Since the video is not available with the defence, they cannot move a discharge application in the case. As per the report, Inamdar stated that “We have moved an application before the court to get a copy so that we can file a discharge application for the students and the matter is pending for this.”

The Matrubhumi report also provided the statement of Ameya Gore, one of the 35 students who were booked in the case. As per Gore, pursuant to the incident, the majority of the students faced issues with scholarships and obtaining passports. Speaking about the case, Fore stated that “The case is still ongoing in the Sessions Court, but there has been no progress from the prosecution’s side. The trial has not started yet. Hearings are generally scheduled every two to three months, but nothing happens because nobody from the prosecution shows up.”

Ironically, only a month after this win, on June 26, Kapadia has her hearing scheduled in the Pune Court.

Notably, in 2017, the new FTII director Bhupendra Kainthola had issued a letter of support and funded Payal’s travel to Cannes for her short film screening. The said short film was ‘A Night of Knowing Nothing’ for which she won the ‘le prix du documentaire’ for Best Documentary. Interestingly, FTII and Hindutva politics were the twin themes of Kapadia’s debut docu-feature. The said documentary is yet to be released in India.

Many now conveniently support, claim credit in Kapadia’s win:

As the news of Kapadia winning the prestigious award broke out, FTII took up the opportunity to congratulate Kapadia, conveniently forgetting its own actions and charged against her. In its post, the FTII stated, “It is a moment of pride for FTII as its Alumni create history at Cannes. As we witness a phenomenal year for Indian Cinema at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, FTII cherishes the glorious achievements of its Alumni at this Mega International Stage of Cinema. We congratulate Payal Kapadia for winning the Grand Prix Award, Santosh Sivan for receiving the Pierre Angénieux Tribute Award, Maisam Ali for his debut at ACID & Chidanand S Naik for winning La Cinef. Their achievements are taking Indian Cinema to greater heights.”

It is a moment of pride for FTII as its Alumni create history at Cannes.

As we witness a phenomenal year for Indian Cinema at 77th Cannes Film Festival, FTII cherishes the glorious achievements of its Alumni at this Mega International Stage of Cinema.#cannes2024 #cannesawards pic.twitter.com/3fFURhzuSK

— FTII (@FTIIOfficial) May 26, 2024

In addition to this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took to ‘X’ to congratulate Kapadia by posting “India is proud of Payal Kapadia for her historic feat of winning the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival for her work ‘All We Imagine as Light’. An alumnus of FTII, her remarkable talent continues to shine on the global stage, giving a glimpse of the rich creativity in India. This prestigious accolade not only honours her exceptional skills but also inspires a new generation of Indian filmmakers.”

India is proud of Payal Kapadia for her historic feat of winning the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival for her work ‘All We Imagine as Light’. An alumnus of FTII, her remarkable talent continues to shine on the global stage, giving a glimpse of the rich creativity in… pic.twitter.com/aMJbsbmNoE

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 26, 2024

It is to be noted that the BJP party was the ruling party in 2015 when the “anti-national” smear campaign was being run against Kapadia. The party had not said a word in support of the protesting students that were being targeted.

The past not forgotten:

After FTII put out the post congratulating Kapadia, actor Ali Fazal was quick to call out the institute’s hypocrisy. Taking to ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), Faizal reposted FTII’s post with the caption “Uhhh… please don’t. Just don’t”.

Uhhh… please don’t. Just dont. https://t.co/UcBzjUp4GO

— Ali Fazal M / میر علی فضل / अली (@alifazal9) May 26, 2024

Many other social media users had also criticised FTII’s stance, calling it hypocritical. One such criticism was put out by Oscar winning sound designer Resul Pookutty also called out FTII in a lengthy post on Facebook. He wrote, “But the big win came from #payalkapadia #AllWeImgineAsLight. It would be interesting to pause for a moment and think, has Indian Film Industry anything to do with this win?! None! Who all are been taken to Cannes by Govt. of India as delegation every year?! The usual suspects and familiar faces from mainstream Industry… What makes Payal’s win so important?! Not just that she is from FTII, that the is from a group of people/ students enthusiasts who are regular people who come from varied corners of India and signed themselves to be strugglers for the rest of their lives (sic).”

Through bad times and good:

An exception to those who have now come out to celebrate Kapadia’s success standing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Even in 2015, Gandhi had come out in support of the protesting students of FTII.

Visiting the FTII College during the protest, Gandhi had urged the government to hold a conversation with the protesting students and listen to their demands. In a social media post, Gandhi had written “The students only want to say that the government should listen to their voice, there should be discussion and dialogue.”

Students का सिर्फ यही कहना है, की सरकार को इनकी आवाज़ सुननी चाहिए, discussion होना चाहिए, बात-चीत होनी चाहिए pic.twitter.com/Z5seTXJn8p

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 31, 2015

At FTII interacting with protesting students pic.twitter.com/Eqfpx96eNE

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 31, 2015

The students are only asking for their voice to be heard.It will not make the Govt smaller if they have a discussion: Rahul Gandhi at FTII

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 31, 2015

The RSS/BJP model of education is destroying the creativity of our institutions,harming future of youth #FTII Watch: https://t.co/KaAck80fjl

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 19, 2015

I want to send a message to the students of FTII that they are fighting a very important fight for the soul of this country #RGwithFTII

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 13, 2015

Gandhi had also written a memorandum to the President of India in support of the FTII students.

Memorandum to the President on the FTII issue #RGwithFTII @nsui @INCIndia pic.twitter.com/3OYug5FPwA

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 13, 2015

When the crackdown of the police had taken place against the protesting students, which had resulted in the arrest of 5 students, Gandhi had written “Protesting #FTII students arrested in #midnightcrackdown.Our students are not criminals Modiji.Silence.Suspend.Arrest; ModiMantra for AcheDin”

Protesting #FTII students arrested in #midnightcrackdown.Our students are not criminals Modiji.Silence.Suspend.Arrest:ModiMantra for AcheDin

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 19, 2015

On Kapadia’s present win at 77th Cannes Film Festival, Rahul Gandhi had written a congratulatory message for Kapadia which stated “Congratulations to Payal Kapadia and the entire team of ‘All We Imagine as Light’ for clinching the prestigious Grand Prix award.”

Indian stars shining bright at the 77th Cannes Film Festival!

Congratulations to Payal Kapadia and the entire team of ‘All We Imagine As Light’ for clinching the prestigious Grand Prix award.

Kudos to Anasuya Sengupta for winning the Best Actress award under the Un Certain… pic.twitter.com/5lRPgdeezI

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 26, 2024

Related:

Mumbai college bans hijab, demands students wear ‘decent’ clothes

Parents and students protest in Gujarat after girls asked to remove hijab before board exam

Karnataka: Muslim girl asked to not wear hijab to school, after students protested wearing saffron shawls

JNU Students conducting election meeting attacked

The post 2015 FTII protest headliner Payal Kapadia wins the Grand Prix award for her directorial debut in ‘All We Imagine as Light’ appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On January 23, some unidentified persons entered the premises of the film institute, burned a poster mentioning the Babri Masjid, completely vandalised student exhibits and and even brutally attacked some students.

National Award winning filmmaker and FTII alumnus Sunil Sukthankar, veteran theatre artist Sushama Deshpande, photographer and artist Sandesh Bhandare, author and member of PUCL Milind Champarnekar were part of the delegation that submitted a letter to the FTII administration on February 1, yesterday.

The letter addressed to the director of the institute stated — “We feel that FTII should consider the circumstances sensitively and do more to ensure safety and security of students. Instead of taking any coercive action, students should be treated sympathetically, and their right to freedom of expression within the premises should be ensured and protected.”

This delegation also consisted of representatives of civil society groups like PUCL (People’s Union for Civil liberties), NAPM (National Alliance for People’s Movements), Samajwadi Mahila Sabha, NSA (New Socialist Alternative) and student groups like Yuvak Kranti Dal, National Students Union of India (NSUI) and others.

All these groups along with Pune filmmaker and FTII alumnus Umesh Kulkarni and others submitted a letter to the DCP–Special Branch on January 31 requesting unbiased proceedings.

The letter also addressed to the Commissioner of Police stated — “While the latter case (against FTII students) is being pursued vigorously with serious non-bailable offences slapped on them, not much is being done in the complaint registered by FTII (against the attackers), in which relatively lesser offences have been registered.”

Since the incident, police have been deployed on the campus, and disciplinary proceedings initiated by the administration and classes were boycotted by students. This was followed by an FIR lodged by the college against unidentified persons and another by an individual against some students of the college.

In a subsequent press release, these groups stated that their request for a peaceful demonstration intended to be held on January 31 against the FTII incident was shot down by police. The organisations have postponed the demonstration programme but negotiations are underway for police permission, a source said. They also drew attention to the inaction against perpetrators of violence against students in Savitribai Phule Pune University on November 1 and 3.

Related:

Five FTII Pune students booked by police for “hurting religious sentiments” over displaying ‘Remember Babri’ banner

Mob attacks FTII students on campus

Five states report communal incidents following the inauguration of the Ram Temple in UP

Eve of Ram temple inauguration sees “clashes”, planting of saffron flag atop Church

Preamble, banners, slogans of solidarity, inter-faith rallies and protests – symbol of undying secularism on January 22

The post Ensure fair investigation, protection of dissent & safety of students on FTII campus: Film makers to Pune police appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Hindutva groups barged into FTII Pune, launching attack on students & setting ablaze banner reading “remember Babri”. Assailants, chanting “Jai Shri Ram” & derogatory slogans, targeted both male and female students. Students claim police complicity in the assault.

Watch: pic.twitter.com/MyQk294xkS

— Maktoob (@MaktoobMedia) January 23, 2024

The student body at the institute, FTII Students’ Association had screened Anand Patwardhan’s award-winning documentary of the Babri Masjid demolition called Raam ke Naam on January 22nd, 2024. They had even invited Patwardhan for the screening of the documentary at the campus. However, despite pressure and threats, students revealed, they managed to screen the documentary and hold a live questions and answers session peacefully in the campus. However, little did they know that they would be attached the very next day!

A press note released by the student body states that once the police arrived, they took no action against the mob, who started leaving, and the culprits were “free to go.” The press note also decries the narrative, they say, is spread in the media that the incident was a scuffle between the two groups. 

Sabrang India spoke to a Sayantan Chakrabarti, general secretary of the Student’s Association at from the institute, who stated that the situation continues to remain very tense in the campus. Students continue to be threatened and under fear even though the police has been deployed as of now. 

Indian film actor Madhavan was recently nominated in September 2023 as the institute’s chairman. Madhavan recently took to Instagram to make a reportedly celebratory post about the Ram Temple inauguration in Ayodhya yesterday. 

Incidents similar to this have been witnessed on several occasions in the past two days. Students in Kerala’s KR Narayanan Film Institute were also unable to screen the documentary without disruptions. A group of people gathered and protested the screening outside the premises of the institute, following which they had to screen Raam ka Naam inside the institute’s premises. The local police had to arrive and diffuse the crowd. 

Similarly, on January 21, a film screening of the same documentary was disrupted by Hindutva outfits in Hyderabad. Rather than taking action against the disruptors, the police targeted the event organisers. Although now released, the owners of Marley’s Joint Bistro, where the screening took place, and members of the organising body, Hyderabad Cinephiles, were swiftly arrested and had charges filed against them which include Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 290 (public nuisance), 295A (outraging religious feelings), and 149 of the Indian Penal Code.

Related

Five states report communal incidents following the inauguration of the Ram Temple in UP

Eve of Ram temple inauguration sees “clashes”, planting of saffron flag atop Church

How and why the Ram Temple is just a political tool for the BJP

Rohith’s death: We are all to blame

The post Mob attacks FTII students on campus appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image Courtesy: Scroll.in

On July 19, Indranil Bhattacharya, Dean (Films) of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) was suspended for “an anti-government Facebook post” and on disciplinary grounds. He was also issued three show-cause notices.

Bhattacharya wanted to apply  for a posting at the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) in New Delhi. His advocate Sunip Sen told the court that Bhattacharya’s application will be routed through the Director of FTII. Sen also alleged vindictive action on the part of the Centre because Bhattachatya had complained to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). 

In 2013, Indranil Bhattacharya had filed a complaint with the Central Information Commission (CIC) under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act), alleging serious omissions by FTII, Pune. “The complaint pertained to the public authority’s poor compliance to the RTI Act and its provisions and also a complete disregard for Section 4 of the RTI Act regarding suo motu disclosure.”

By the time the complaint was heard by the CIC in 2017, Bhattacharya further submitted that his only complaint was a lack of total compliance with Section 4 of the RTI, but that a large degree of improvement had been made in four years. The CIC concluded that it found no evidence of malfidelity. It also suggested that the Director, FTII hold workshops for officers and staff on the key feature of the RTI Act.

Slamming the behaviour of the Centre in the matter of the suspension of Bhattacharaya from his faculty position, Justices Gautam Patel and Satyaranjan Dharmadhikari of the Bombay HC reminded the respondents of the institution’s prestigious history. The court has directed FTII to forward his application to JMI.

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum

The post “FTII is not Doordarshan” appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The film mainly revolves around Kabir Kala Manch.

This is what we have always been afraid of!

Most of our earlier GBMs during strike was about how the new appointments, systematic and strategic crackdown of FTII would change the nature and philosophy of the place. We had discussions of what if one day they stop screening eastern bloc cinema and ask us to produce censor certificate for our own films. Finally our nighgmares are becoming a scary reality! The day FTII students are asked to produce the censor certificate to screen the students films isn’t far!

During strike, the then director Prasanth Pathrabe had tried to stop the screening of Sabnam Sukhdev’s film ‘The telephone’, pointing at the censor issues. Post strike, our access to the classroom theatre has been restricted by the admin and today they stopped Nachi’s film screening.
When the 2008 batch diplomas were to be assessed as is where is basis, the admin had got police men standing outside the Main Theatre to keep us away from our own films’ assessment.Now, when ABVP, the right wing outfit which had once attacked FTII students for screening Jai Bhim Comrade, issues a threat, why don’t the admin and the director Mr Bhupendra Kainthola ask for police protection?

Nachimuthu, being a student at the premiere film school of the country that is being funded by the public money has all the right to have his film screened, whenever he wants once the film is made. The institute has the responsibility to make sure that the screening happens without any issues.

Why is the admin not ready to take a step towards it when in other cases they rush to finish off the films and send the students out? Are public servants not supposed to do their duty if there’s a threat from any fringe groups? If the students of FTII cannot screen our own films at FTII, where else it would be possible in this country, under current scenario?

May be these concerns are for later. But now we need to make sure at least the screening of Hora will happen in the campus without getting interrupted by the admin, ABVP or any other right wing outfit. It is a question of freedom of expression without doubt for which we have always stood for!

#ftii
#hora
#FreedomofExpression

Shini J.K is a film professional

Courtesy: https://countercurrents.org/

The post FTII Deny Permission To Screen Student Film In Its Own Campus! appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image: Indian Express

In a clear move to crack down on students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), who staged a four-month-long strike to protest against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the head of the institute, the administration has started refusing scholarships and the opportunity to participate in foreign exchange programmes to those who have “disciplinary matters” pending for their involvement in the protests reports The Indian Express. (http://indianexpress.com/article/education/to-enforce-discipline-no-scholarships-foreign-visit-nod-for-ftii-students-who-participated-in-agitation-4480868/)

As per the file notings obtained by The Indian Express, FTII Director Bhupendra Kainthola has directed the heads of departments (HODs) and Deans to route all files pertaining to scholarships and foreign exchanges through the office of the Proctor, who is in charge of maintaining discipline. Documents obtained by The Indian Express, under the Right to Information Act, from various FTII departments showed that the nomination of eight students, who have “disciplinary matters” pending against them, came under the scanner.

The post Dissenting Students Denied FTII Scholarships: Crackdown appeared first on SabrangIndia.

UPDATE: A copy of the JNU Committee Report is available here

Even as students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University prepared for their  "People's March to Save Democracy" and gathered at the gates to board a bus for Mandi House in Delhi today, there was disquiet by widespread media reports on the reported recommended rustication of eight students.

 
The march is a protest against the BJP-led government’s attack on universities, from the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) to Allahabad to the FTII to JNU. The demands/slogans include, Stand with Social Justice   and Secularism, ensure Justice for Rohith Vemula and Enact the Rohith Act; Release JNU students, Umar and Anirban;  Drop all charges against JNU students; and last but not the least,  HRD Minister Smriti Irani must resign
‪#‎StandWithJNU
‪#‎JusticeForRohith
‪#‎MarchForAzaadi

All major national newspapers, quoting from a report in the Press Trust of India today (March 15, 2016) had said that the report of the internal JNU Committee appointed to go into allegations of ‘anti-national slogans’ has recommended that Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and three other students should be expelled for their alleged role in a February 9 event to mark the anniversary of the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, where allegedly 'anti-India slogans' were raised.

Interestingly though the conclusions of this internal report have been leaked widely to the media by the vice chancellor Jagadesh Kumar, his claim that the deans of the colleges had been shown the report has been denied. None from the faculty have seen the report. Several students have however received show cause notices to reply to allegations by March 16. The notice however does not anywhere clarify what the alleged offences committed by the students are.

It may be recalled that a Judicial Inquiry into the incident, ordered by the Delhi government had reached significant findings, not the least being that three of the seven videos used to mobilise public opinion through telecast by three television channels had been doctored. SabtangIndia had carried a detailed story on the DM's Report on March 8.
 
Major Findings of the Report of the District Magistrate (DM):

1. Nothing adverse could be found against Kanhaiya Kumar. No witness or video available to me could support allegation against him.
2. Umar Khalid was visible in videos. His support for the role of Afzal Guri is known and he was the organizer of the event. His role needs to be further investigated (Page 1 ) The Magistrate further says that after a close watching of the videos, he “did not hear any slogan from the mouth of Umar Khalid” (Page 23)
3. Three out of seven videos which were sent for verification were found to be doctored including one news clipping of a News Channel found on You-Tube

Importantly, the district magistrate Sanjay Gupta concludes in Chapter 4 (Sequence of events) that “the event was not organised with prior permission. Hence it would not be right to say that the JNU administration withdrew the permission after granting the same. Although the JNU administration is taking the stand that permission was withdrawn, “Signatures of the rector were not found on the performa permission form regarding the event by the senior security officer.

The DM's report further states:

• Three of the seven videos examined by the Truth Labs, Hyderabad to ascertain whether they were doctored or not, were found to have been doctored. The television channels that telecast these doctored videos have not been named in the report.
• The reporter and cameraman of Zee News were invited onto the campus at 5.20 p.m. by Saurabh Sharma of the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) who is general secretary of the JNUSU, on February 9, and it is after the telecast by Zee television of the doctored videos the next day that the local police station lodged the FIR. The FIR, filed under section 124A of the Indian penal Code (IPC) did not name any students as offenders.
• While Zee News/television willingly gave the CD of the video recording of the news telecast that led to the registration of an FIR to the police, the same news channel, despite repeated requests did not make available any recording for the purpose of the magisterial inquiry. This amounts, in law, to suppression of evidence and non-cooperation with a judicial officer.
• Several of the security officers under the administration gave contradictory statements to the district magistrate and the internal inquiry committee.

On March 12, 2016 reports that suspensions had been revoked had done the rounds.

The JNU controversy in a nutshell

• "The high-level committee that has reportedly recommended rustication of five students after its investigation over a month's time. PTI reports that the final call in this regard will be taken by the Vice Chancellor and Proctor's office," sources told PTI. None of the Teachers Association –JNUTA—nor the Dean have been shown a copy of the report that was shared with the media. SabrangIndia spoke to several persons from the JNU faculty.
• The university also sent a notice to 21 students, including Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid, for "violating the university's rules and norms" and asked them to give their explanation by tomorrow, March 16. "Disclose the evidence based on which action has been recommended," said Ajay Patnaik, the chief of the faculty association at JNU or Jawaharlal Nehru University. Students who have received the university's show cause notice have also asked for the report to be made public to NDTV. "The notice is very vague. It doesn't say what we have done. It asks us to clarify, but what should we clarify?" questioned one of the students, Anand Prakash. Mr Prakash alleged that the inquiry committee formed at the height of the controversy last month had shown bias in the past. "We were suspended 24 hours after the inquiry committee was formed," he said.
• The university's top officers including the vice chancellor reportedly met on Monday, March 14, 2016 and discussed the report for issuing notice to the students.
• Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya were arrested last month on charges of sedition. Mr Kumar was released on bail from Tihar Jail on March 3 while Mr Khalid and Mr Bhattacharya are still in judicial custody.
• The university had, on March 11, revoked the academic suspension of eight students including Kanhaiya Kumar following outrage and said that they would be banned from academic activities until the inquiry was over.
• In Mid-February when the Committee had been constituted the, Jawharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) had questioned the university’s decision to suspend eight students from academic activities, as recommended by a “high-level” enquiry committee formed to investigate February 9 incidents on the campus. The union, in a statement, had pointed out that although majority of suspended students came from marginalised sections, there was no member from such sections in the enquiry panel. The JNU Students Union has severe apprehensions about the neutrality of this committee. The committee, even before following due process, has debarred the eight students from all academic activity. When the case is already prejudged, how can the committee conduct any fair investigation? Through the memorandum, we also raised concerns about the constitution of the committee, which consists of former members of ABVP and the anti-reservation Youth for Equality, Shehla Rashid, Vice President, JNUSU was quoted as saying. This report can be read here. The students had then submitted a memorandum, signed by over 2,000 students, demanding the administration to take back the debarring of the eight students. The committee has professor Rakesh Bhatnagar, professor Himadri Bohidar and professor Suman K. Dhar as its members.
• To make the entire controversy over the Committee’s composition and its overall credibility murkier, one of the members of the Committee, Rakesh Bhatnagar was ‘awarded’ a Visitor’s Award just five days ago, on March 10, 2016. The report is here. NDTV reported that in the midst of a raging political row over sedition that has engulfed the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), the prestigious institution has bagged the President's award for excellence in research and innovation. Tezpur University in Assam has won annual Visitor's award for 'best university'. President Pranab Mukherjee is the Visitor of central universities. "Tezpur University has won the annual Visitor's award for the best university and professor Rakesh Bhatnagar (JNU)as well as the Molecular Parasitology Group of JNU have won the Visitor's awards for 'research' and 'innovation' respectively," a press release by Rashtarapati Bhavan had said. The award was presented yesterday, March 14.
• Meanwhile, in a related development, the Delhi Delhi HC dismissed a plea for action against Kanhaiya Kumar. The petition has alleged that after being released from judicial custody, Kanhaiya has again indulged in anti-national slogans and used the word "azadi" at least 100 times in his speech recently.Delhi High Court Tuesday refused to entertain a plea seeking action against JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar for allegedly making anti-national remarks after being released on interim bail in a sedition case lodged against him reported The Indian Express. Justice Pratibha Rani declined to give the direction sought by a social activist on the ground that there is law and order in place which will take care of if any anti-national slogans are being raised and the petitioner need not worry about the image of the nation. It also questioned the locus of the petitioner for filing the present petition seeking direction to take necessary action for the offence of sedition allegedly committed by Kanhaiya and to refer the matter for further investigation by Intelligence Bureau in the interest of justice. The court also sought presence of petitioner Dev Dutt Sharma so that he is aware of the cost which may be imposed on him for filing this writ petition. Following this, advocate Sugriva Dubey wished to withdraw the petition and the court treated it dismissed as withdrawn.
• JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, arrested in the sedition case over a controversial event in the varsity’s campus, are presently in judicial custody. Today, March 15, 2016 their remand to judicial custody was extended by a further 14 days.

The post JNU VC briefs media on ‘Rustication’ but keeps Deans and Faculty in the Dark appeared first on SabrangIndia.

This article written by a German professor in the context of the 2015 student protests in USA has equal relevance to our own context with campuses across India in ferment

The protests over race and diversity that shook campuses across the U.S. in 2015 continue to reverberate.

In January the president of Ithaca College resigned. In February Princeton University began public discussions of the controversial legacy of its former president and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. And also in February, the University of Missouri fired the professor who called for reporters to be removed from covering a campus protest.

Although some administrators deem such students’ demands as fair and justified, others accuse them of revisionist and wrong, claiming “history cannot be comprehended if erased.”

As a German Studies scholar, I am observing the controversies on U.S. campuses attentively. I am reminded of the discussions that students initiated in Germany in the 1960s to overcome the past.

Indeed, looking back at the protest movement in Germany reveals parallels that help to understand the present.

The German burden

Probably no other country has struggled as hard to come to terms with its past as Germany.

The Nazis' unimaginable crimes cost the lives of millions of people, many of whom died in ghettos or in concentration, labor and death camps. Most of these victims were Jewish. Others included ethnic and religious minorities, political activists, members of resistance groups and gays.

After the war, all visible signs of Nazi rule – such as swastikas and portraits of Hitler – were removed under orders from the Allied Powers of the U.S., United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union.
But that did not mean that racism had been uprooted in postwar German society.

Students helped to democratize German society through instigating public debates on topics such as gender equality, wealth distribution, and the meaning of public leadership. And if necessary, former protesters took matters into their hands and founded their own media outlets such as the left-leaning newspaper cooperation “taz” in Berlin in 1978.

It was students who sparked a public discussion on race and gender. It was they who initiated what ended up being a cathartic process of healing. In the process, however, there was resistance and violence on both sides. The students' targets were clear. They were protesting against universities' failure to remove professors that were known racists and had served in the Nazi administration; against the authoritarian and paternalistic structures at universities; and in favor of equality among the sexes.

In doing so they were targeting the German government itself.

First attempts to undo 12 years of Nazi propaganda

After World War II, denazification and reeducation programs were designed to undo 12 years of Nazi propaganda.

They had limited success.

The Nazis had consolidated their power through centralization and massive organizations. The Nazi Party itself had more than 8 million members or almost 10 percent of the population. The German Labor Front, a state-mandated union whose leaders supported the regime counted as many as 25 million members.

The sheer number of people who had been members of Nazi organizations made the goal of removing them from government and public offices impossible. Many were able to move into high positions in the West German government, and some of those even had the backing of the United States, who considered them efficient anti-communists.
 

Hans Globke. Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F015051-0006 / Patzek, Renate, CC BY

One of these was the director of the Federal Chancellery of West Germany, Hans Globke, a jurist who had co-authored the Nuremberg Laws that revoked Jews’ citizenship in 1935.

Yes, the Nuremberg trials of 1945-46 convicted – in the spotlight of the international media – 22 main Nazi officials, military officers and business leaders. And, yes, there were a number of trials to follow in the 1950s. But it took until the 1960s and the Auschwitz trials for the larger public to be shaken out of its comforting illusion that an economic recovery could continue without addressing the traumatic experience of Nazi crimes and the involvement and passive support of significant segments of the population.

New role models for students

Student protests in West Germany were kick-started by the decision of the center left Social Democratic Party to exclude its student union from party membership in 1961.

The students saw themselves as legitimate political players. They began speaking up not just against the establishment’s decision to silence them but also the establishment’s past.

In their fight against the “lies of the fathers,” students turned to new intellectual role models, such as Theodor W. Adorno and Herbert Marcuse , leading figures of the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory who had been in exile during the war.
But if these “fathers of the revolution” sparked debate, it was often women who took action.

Into the streets
 

Beate Klarsfeld in 1970. Nationaal Archief, CC BY

The political activist Beate Klarsfeld, for example, received major public attention when she slapped Kurt Georg Kiesinger, German chancellor from 1966-69.

Kiesinger had been a Nazi Party member and deputy director of the State Department’s foreign radio network.

It was unacceptable to students that a staunch opponent of free speech could be the highest dignitary of West Germany.

Kiesinger, however, struck back. He introduced an infamous “Emergency Law” in 1968 that only intensified the protests against the government and its representatives.

The law was implemented in May 1968 and authorized the government to make wide-ranging decisions without confirmation or consent by the German Parliament. It gave the government power to strip citizens of constitutional rights such as the right of free speech in case of an armed conflict or a natural disaster.

Students attacked the law as undemocratic and took to the streets. Demonstrations became violent. The deadly shooting of Benno Ohnesorg in 1967 (whose attacker was revealed in 2012 as an undercover agent for the East German Stasi secret police) and of charismatic student leader Rudi Dutschke a year later, brought matters to a boiling point.

In the wake of this violence the student movement split. Most continued peaceful protests. But some, notably the Red Army Faction (RAF), turned to terrorism. It was their kidnapping and 1977 murder of Hanns-Martin Schleyer, the president of the Confederation of German Employers Association that pushed the government into a state of emergency.

And once again the wartime past reared its head.

Until his kidnapping, the public had known little about Schleyer – one of the country’s most powerful business leaders. Now it was revealed that he had been an active Nazi party member, a Nazi Student Organization leader, and a Second Lieutenant in the infamous and murderous Schutzstaffel or “SS.”

The legacy

The RAF was undoubtedly a criminal organization without lasting impact on society as a whole. But the student protests changed the German mindset forever.

Students’ demands to have a role in governing universities were largely accepted. The government increased spending on education, changed curricula to prepare students better for the job market, and introduced Universities of Applied Sciences or “Fachhochschulen.”

More female high school graduates entered higher education. New non-discrimination laws made it easier for women to pursue careers in higher education. In addition, universities lowered access barriers for students from low income families.

Students helped to democratize German society through instigating public debates on topics such as gender equality, wealth distribution, and the meaning of public leadership.
And if necessary, former protesters took matters into their hands and founded their own media outlets such as the left-leaning newspaper cooperation “taz” in Berlin in 1978 – a publication that continues to be a thought leader today despite its relatively small circulation of 52,000 copies.

Other former protesters cofounded the Green Party, now a major player in Germany’s political landscape with an average 10% of the votes countrywide and currently in coalition governments in no less than eight of the sixteen German states. The Green Party’s most prominent member to this day is a former student leader from Frankfurt, Joschka Fischer, who was the country’s Foreign Secretary from 1998-2005.

2015-2016

The echo of student protests in the 1960s and ‘70’s can still be heard to this day.

Yes, there are a growing number of nationalists that oppose Angela Merkel’s decision to open borders to 1.1 million refugees mainly from Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea. But at the same time, students in Germany have vociferously expressed their support for refugees by volunteering in aid projects, teaching the German language, helping with translations, offering legal advice, and accompanying migrants to medical doctors. More and more universities are opening up their English course offerings for refugees and a new tuition-free university in Berlin is targeted specifically at migrants.

Merkel’s politics, I believe, can be seen as a result of lessons learned by German history. The official response to political oppression and racism, in other words, must be civility and responsibility.

History, much like in the U.S., should adapt to the values of the present, not the past.

This article was first published in The Conversation.
 

The post Organising a student protest? Have a look at 1970s Germany appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The unfolding Modi-BJP-RSS-ABVP nexus in India is but a replay of the Zia ul Haq-Jamaat e Islami-Islami Jamiat e Talaba axis in Pakistan in the 1970s

Ideologically speaking, the ‘Hindu nationalist’ Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with its Hindu Rashtra agenda is the mirror image of the Abu Ala Maududi’s Jamaat-e-Islami with Islamic state and Shariah law as its goal. It should not be surprising then that the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) – the student body floated by the RSS – is beginning to look more and more, and ominously so, like the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) – the student wing floated by Maududi in Pakistan. 

“If you want to change a country, change its students,” noted American writer and journalism, Dan Brooks in an article, ‘Know your theocrats: Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba’, which he wrote in 2011. The RSS wants to “change India” just as the Jamaat-e-Islami is trying to “change Pakistan”. If the ABVP is the former’s instrument for ‘changing students’ in India, the IJT is the latter’s tool for “changing students” in Pakistan.

The comparison does not end there. The RSS and the ABVP claim that the latter’s real growth in numbers took place during the years that the Congress-led UPA governments were in power, that is, before Narendra Modi’s rise to the top. The Jamaat-e-Islami and the IJT too can make a similar claim. Read, Nadeem F Paracha’s excellent 2009 essay, ‘Student politics in Pakistan: A history, lament and celebration’.

Though left-wing student unions retained their dominant position in Pakistan’s colleges and universities through the 1950s, by the early 1960s the IJT had started “to emerge from the sidelines of student politics and materialise as an affective right-wing force on the campuses”. Until then, though the IJT had been around for more than a decade “it was almost completely overshadowed by DSF (Democratic Students Front) and the NSF (National Students Front),” Paracha writes.

In tune with the movement worldwide, the 1960s are often referred to as the “golden era of student politics” in Pakistan. According to Paracha however, “it is the 1970s that one can truly call the golden era of student politics in Pakistan”. It was in the latter decade that Pakistan witnessed the emergence of a state-party-student nexus. What we are witnessing in India today is a replay of the same devious plot.

“When [after ousting Zulfikar Ali Bhutto] President Zia [ul Haq] brought in members of the Jamaat-e-Islami to form his first cabinet (to help him ‘Islamize Pakistan’), IJT’s notorious ‘Thunder Squads’ that were formed in the 1960s at the universities of Karachi and Lahore to challenge leftist student activists, went on a rampage, harassing and physically manhandling their opponents”.

What the Zia-Jamaat-IJT did in the campuses in Pakistan in the 1970s is exactly what the Modi-BJP-RSS-ABVP has been re-enacting in India’s premier educational institutions in recent months— Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), IITs, Hyderabad Central University, JNU…  The difference: In Pakistan the IJT was fighting the “enemies of Islam”; in India the ABVP is fighting “desh drohis”, or put differently, the “enemies of Hindu Rashtra”.

Though ideologically a mirror image of Pakistan’s Jamaat-e-Islami, the RSS has chosen a different organisational path. The ABVP may not need to form its own “thunder squads” since the RSS has already put in place complementary fronts for the purpose: VHP, Bajrang Dal, sundry other Hindutva-inspired outfits, even rogue lawyers as witnessed in the Patiala court recently

Though ideologically a mirror image of Pakistan’s Jamaat-e-Islami, the RSS has chosen a different organisational path. The ABVP may not need to form its own “thunder squads” since the RSS has already put in place complementary fronts for the purpose: VHP, Bajrang Dal, sundry other Hindutva-inspired outfits, even rogue lawyers as witnessed in the Patiala court recently.

The ABVP may not mimic the IJT’s misdeeds in Pakistan step-by-step. It and the ‘thunder squads’ of the RSS may march separately but they have the same goal in mind: Changing students to change the country. Bearing this in mind, there still are lessons we in India must learn from the IJT’s trajectory post-1970s.

As was only to be expected, Zia’s harsh crackdown on the left-wing student unions in Pakistan discredited the IJT. According to Paracha, “the [Zia] regime’s plans to repress progressive student groups through its allied party, the Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing… had left IJT in the clutches of uncontrollable violence so much so that the support it had managed to gather through student union elections in the 1970s, now stood eroded, triggering a sympathy wave for the anti-IJT student organisations.”

In the 1978 elections IJT lost out heavily to the Punjab Progressive Students Alliance (PPSA) in Rawalpindi, Islamabad and in many colleges of Lahore. Meanwhile in Karachi and Sind province, the IJT was seriously challenged by the student wings of the newly-formed Muhajir Quami Movement (MQM) of Altaf Hussain and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
With Pakistan heavily involved in the USA-Saudi Arabia backed Afghan struggle against occupation by the Soviet army, to stay relevant the IJT grabbed the opportunity to bring the “AK-47 culture” to the campus.

However, in the 1983 elections to student unions the IJT was comprehensively voted out in a majority of colleges and universities across the country. In 1984, the Zia regime outlawed all student unions and politics. The ban continues till date but that does not mean, the IJT has ceased to exist. Here below are some examples of its recent activities:
 

• February 19, 2016: Baloch students hold protest demonstrations in Punjab, Quetta and Uthal against attacks on students in Punjab by IJT.
• October 13, 2015: Young women playing cricket at Karachi University are beaten by religious thugs. Members of the IJT who had earlier warned the cricket-playing women, broke up a mixed-gender game and beat up both the men and women members of the Punjabi Students Association with batons.
• December 2, 2013: Pakistan TV telecasts footage on how IJT “attacked and tortured teachers in Punjab University”.
• September 2013: Pakistan’s intelligence and law enforcement agencies arrest students belonging to the IJT, also suspected to have Al Qaeda links.  
• March 2013: The founder and leader of MQM, Altaf Hussain demands banning of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba for their connections with terrorists… 
• February 2012: Activists of Imamia Students Organization (ISO) stage a protest demonstration against IJT activists for torturing an ISO activist at the Punjab University.
• July 2011: "After philosophy students and faculty members rallied to denounce heavy-handed efforts to separate male and female students, Islamists on campus struck back: In the dead of night, witnesses say, the radicals showed up at a men's dormitory armed with wooden sticks and bicycle chains.

           "They burst into dorm rooms, attacking philosophy students. One was pistol-whipped and hit on the head with a brick. Gunfire rang out, although no one was injured. Police were called, but nearly a month after the attack, no arrests have been made.

          "Few on Punjab University's leafy campus, including top administrators, dare to challenge the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, or the IJT, the student wing of one of Pakistan's most powerful hard-line Islamist parties.

"At another Lahore campus, the principal disdainfully refers to the Islamists as 'a parallel administration'."

The few examples cited above are apart from the IJT’s ongoing campaigns against Ahmediyas, celebration of New Year and Valentine’s Day and “forbidding progressive literature from the university libraries”.

The ABVP may not, as yet, be able to match the fine record of its Pakistani counter-part. But with the Modi-BJP-RSS-ABVP axis now in place who can say what lies ahead.

P.S.: In an article which may be accessed on SabrangIndia, Prathama Banerjee reports that in Gwalior a few days ago, a meeting organised by the Ambedkar Manch involving an Ambedkarite professor Vivek Kumar from JNU was attacked by ABVP members, who went on to not only fire gun-shots at the gathering but even burn the Indian Constitution, perhaps to avenge Ambedkar’s burning of the Manusmriti half a century ago!

The post ABVP: In the footsteps of Pakistan’s Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba; ominously so appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Chauhan’s entry into the campus and assumption of his post as chaiman happened despite a long struggle, a struggle which got support from a cross-section of people including mainstream and independent filmmakers, students from across the country, academicians, intellectuals, activists and artists. The protest of the students of FTII was against the partisan appointment of Gajendra Chauahan and others in the FTII society, the apex body which runs the institute.

While we were getting ready to protest, we were shocked to see the coronation like arrangements being made by the administration to welcome Gajendra Chauahan. In the past, the occasion of chairman joining the institute has never been a grand affair. But this time, the administration felt more like a unit of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) welcoming the ‘chief’.

In a government institute which is supposed to be secular in its affairs. Gajendra Chauhan was anointed with a tilak and aarti at the gate. On public money, the Institute had hired around 20 dhol pathaks (traditional dhol players). It seemed that the institute had taken direct inspiration from the recently released Bajirao Mastani: Chauhan was treated like the Peshava, the king who emerged victorious from the battle !

As worrying as the mode of welcome was the enthusiastic support Chauhan received from the FTII staff and the silence of many of the teachers to these developments. It is not as if all of them are avid supporters of the ideology behind the current regime but a combination of pragmatism and fear of the ‘repercussions’ were enough to keep everybody quiet and welcome Gajendra Chauhan.  As ‘well wishers’,  they kept advising us, as they had done during the 139 day-long strike that his proximity with the powers that be can deliver great ‘results’ for the Institute and we must utilize that. Indeed for many, it was ‘practical’ to go along with his entry rather than oppose it now that the strike of the students had ended.

In such atmosphere, one could not help but recall the famous slogan from the France of 1968, ‘Be realistic, demand the impossible’. In a world, guided by practical concerns it has become important to be ideal and fight for the impossible. To shed light on the dangerous (possible things) happening around us and to underline the importance of the ‘impossible.’

As we came out on the street to protest Gajendra Chauhan’s entry and that of others into the campus, we knew there would be all sorts of ‘arrangements’ made to stop us. But the levels of bandobast and the severity of police action shocked us. We had just started to shout slogans when police without warning started beating and pushing us. Several of us were thrown down on the concrete thoroughfare. One student was isolated, surrounded and brutally beaten. Women students were mishandled by male policemen. And our constant question, ‘why’ ?’ was answered with more blows from the lathi.

After detaining 30 students and blocking the entry of rest to their own campus, the coronation ceremony began. It had all the trappings of a religious ceremony. Then the meeting of the FTII society formally began. At the meeting, there was no mention of the students, the prime stakeholders who were sitting in jail. Persons of note, including Rajkumar Hirani, famed for his creative, cinematic propagation of the word Gandhigiri participated. At this meeting, the violent police behaviour with students moments before, just outside, did not figure. For Hirani and other members, obviously, more than any kind of giri, it was the 300 crores which the film had drawn from the ‘market’ that was important; and to keep making such crores, opportune silence was a pre-requisite when the critical moment came.

One of the first tasks of the FTII society on January 7, 2016, was to choose Governing council (GC) members. The members of this body, the GC, meets more regularly and is the sole body which takes and validates all academic and administrative decisions of the institute. In its very first task, the outcome of this meeting confirmed our worst fears.

The FTII society chose Narendra Pathak as one of the members of GC.  Narendra Pathak is a man who in the long run is perhaps more dangerous to the Institute than even Gajendra Chauan. He has no relation at all with the field of cinema or other artistic fields. He is presently, the principal of  SK Somaiya Vinay Mandir, High school and Junior college. He was chosen in the society under the category of ‘ a person of eminence’.

What makes him the person of eminence is not his teaching skills. More qualified persons from the field of teaching are available. His ‘actions’ as the ex-president of ABVP Maharashtra are a critical aspect in his bio-data that makes him the man of choice, for the present regime. During his tenure as president ABVP, he had ‘successfully’ stopped film screenings at various places in Pune.

The screening of Red Ant Dream and Jashn E Azadi was cancelled at Symbiosis Institute of Media after the threat from ABVP.  Another private college refused to screen Final Solutions, a film by Rakesh Sharma on Gujrat pogram terming it as 'controversial' after ABVP threatened to vandalise the space.

ABVP also threatened colleges who invited ‘anti-nationals’ like Binayak Sen and stopped Seminars which had words like Kashmir, communal violence and Hindutva. An entire session on Kashmir in a seminar organised by liberal arts department of Symbiosis University was cancelled due to the ABVP threat. He could do so even though his party was not in power either at the centre or in Maharashtra. He could successfully threaten organisers of such events and undemocratically threaten and stop these events from taking place.

When members of his organization beat up students of the FTII for screening Anand Patwardhan’sJai Bhim Comrade, it was Narendra Pathak who conveniently dubbed them ‘Naxalites’ and ‘anti-national’. After being nominated to the GC of the Society of a Film School, his first reaction to the media was that it is time for a new thought process to start at FTII and if students don’t behave they will be taught a lesson in ‘nationalism’ by him and other members of the ABVP. An obviously violent threat!

During the last five years, we have actively tried to show all kind of films at FTII and we have resisted the ABVP’s plan to vandalise or threaten us on campus, by mobilising the students and holding protests. In the city of Pune, the FTII was the last bastion so to speak, an Institute which did not pay heed to the diktats and sermons of the ABVP read the RSS.

Hence, clearly the regime has thought closely and carefully, by grabbing this opportunity to put it in a powerful position and place, a person against whom students of the FTII had protested within the Institute. An implicit message was being conveyed to students: fall in line like in all other Institutes or else….. This process reached completion and culmination on  January 7, 2016 when Pathak was appointed to the GC without any opposition from other members.

As the day progressed and we were detained at the police station without food, the second important agenda came up at the meeting: ‘Security’. The latest buzz word to punish and kill all kinds of dissent. For an institute which had seen a successful 139-day students’ strike, it surely was the ‘lack of security and discipline’ that ‘allowed’ the protests. This had to be corrected.

In its 55 years of history, FTII has surprisingly remained a very liberal campus, independent of what’s happening around the country. There are no hostel timings for the students and they can enter and exit the Institute at any time. Not just that, there are no restrictions on entry of male students to the hostel of female students and vice versa. For those who think this is too much freedom, it must be emphasised that no great catastrophe has happened till now. However, now, post January 7, 2016, the authorities have decreed that t it should not remain that island of autonomy and creativity and ‘a new thought process’ should start.

So elaborate security arrangements have been proposed which have included restrictions on entry and exit from campus between 11pm to 5 am; the refusal of entry if students were found with objectionable items, which include alchohol; and ‘other steps’ depending on the judgment made by the persons in authority; no entry of ex-students without the permission of either the Director or the Registrar and many more such restricting ‘decrees.’ In the words of the Director ‘it was important to discipline the students’.

We had just started to shout slogans when police without warning started beating and pushing us. Several of us were thrown down on the concrete thoroughfare. One student was isolated, surrounded and brutally beaten. Women students were mishandled by male policemen. And our constant question, ‘why’ ?’ was answered with more blows from the lathi.

Thankfully, due to the intervention of one GC member and the new chairman, Gajendra Chauhan’s first appearance reticence, the proposals were not passed. These would wait for another GC meeting, after the media attention has been subdued. We got that day what we  had imagined. In its very first meeting, the GC had made us realise that the protest must go on else a bleak future awaits us.

The FTII now resembled a microcosm of the whole nation and not the island look that it wore before the present regime assumed power. This was a change.

We witnessed, first hand, again that fascism and saffronisation are not rhetorical and vague terms but the actual, lived political reality of today.

We learned, and experienced, first hand, what happens when a government who is headed by a man who prides himself on being ruthless stops listening to valid feedback from the people.

We learned and experienced, first hand, how the state machinery can and is used most violently to crush acts of protest and dissent.

Most importantly, we also experienced how it is the silent majority that gives rise (and legitimacy) to such regimes.  A majority which believes in being pragmatic, frustrated by the present and in constant anticipation of a bright future which they feel the ruler will give to them on platter; a pessimists’ look towards protest and democracy in general; viewing discipline and tough authority as the answer to all ills. 

Most of the staff of the FTII behaved exactly like that. They were or are not the loyal soldiers of Hindutva but became or have become a part of its project unconsciously. 

This is what was truly scary about when the Modi government came to power. The happenings at FTII have brought close home the reality.

 By the night of January 7, Gajendra Chauhan was gone and we were released from police detention. The ‘well wishers’ were back in action, just as they were during the strike. They were again spewing the same old advice: how protest, politics, police and court were not the things or place(s) for students. That how a ‘bright future’ awaits us and we should concentrate on ‘making it big’. In the imagined idea of an ideal middle class Indian the ‘dirty’ business of politics should be left to ‘dirty’ people – workers, farmers, Dalits and Muslims. Not us, the light bearers of a developing India. If we don’t leave this ‘protest business’ alone, the dirt will come back to haunt us and getting a visa to the dreamland called America will be a huge problem. So we must use our common sense and behave.

But there were glimmers of hope. Students are still not ‘tired’ and the ‘common sense’ was and is in short supply. Already plans are being made about the future course of protest. 

I met a first year student late into the night that day; he was recalling the advise given to him by his teacher ‘ to concentrate on his career’. His answer was, ‘Without learning what will I do with a career?’ I asked him that what had kept him going in the last 200 days. (Since his was a one year course and traditionally in a short course students are much more concerned about moving out and getting a job). His reply was humbling. He said that if it was just one Gajendra Chauhan, he perhaps would not have protested. But he saw what was happening at FTII as just one small part of what this Government is unleashing on society.  He also confessed to me, his first ‘big mistake’, as he called it: Only 18 months back he had voted for Mr. Modi and he was feeling guilty for doing so.

These are mature statements coming from a ‘fresh’ batch of students who had previously voted for Modi but could see the danger of the implication(s) of this regime for society. They are willing to fight it out not just within FTII but outside as well. That, in a nutshell, are the real gains of the FTII movement. And that is why we are ‘being realistic and demanding the impossible’.

(The writer is a recent graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune with a PG Diploma in Editing, 2009 and also former General Secretary of FTII Students' Association)

The post Lage Raho FTII: Resisting Saffronisation appeared first on SabrangIndia.