Kolkata, Nov 5 (PTI) The Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute authorities on Thursday extended the closure of the campus till December 11, amid protests by students, who have accused the administration of adopting coercive measures instead of resolving the crisis.
The institute has been witnessing protests since September 27 following alleged attacks on students during an RSS-linked Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat event on the campus.
The stir intensified after a second alleged attack on October 4 during a rally by Bangiya Hindu Jagran Manch, with students organising sit-ins and raising concerns over their safety, privacy and freedom of movement.
“The situation has been reviewed in consultation with deans of both films and EDM (Electronic and Digital Media) wings, and the earlier order has been extended till December 11,” a senior SRFTI official told PTI.
The institute, on October 16, said it suspended academic activities in its film and EDM wings and directed all students staying on the campus, including those in hostels, to vacate the premises within 24 hours.
The extension of campus closure intensified tensions on the campus, with students alleging that the “authorities are collectively punishing them and taking action against faculty members and resource persons” supporting their academic activities.
In a fresh development, a faculty member has been served a show-cause notice for allegedly facilitating the entry of renowned cinematographer and documentary filmmaker Ranjan Palit onto the campus to conduct a workshop, students claimed.
According to the protesting students, the administration has so far “terminated two contractual faculty members and discontinued the services of five resource persons”.
However, the official alleged that a handful of agitating students were driven by “outside elements and politicising the issue”.
In a statement titled ‘How long will this administrative failure continue?’, the students alleged that along with the suspension of academic activities, they had been deprived of necessities, including food, drinking water, electricity and Wi-Fi.
“Students are being forced to live and continue their education under conditions that are neither acceptable nor conducive to their safety, dignity and well-being,” it said.
They claimed that SRFTI had never witnessed such a situation in its history and demanded accountability from the institute authorities, besides immediate restoration of normal academic and campus life.
The SRFTI authorities have maintained that security measures were necessary following allegations of intimidation, physical abuse and vandalism, and accused protesting students of continuing to occupy hostel facilities despite instructions to vacate them.
“We had on October 13 initially suspended film and digital media classes till November 13 but are forced to extend it by about a month in the wake of the situation,” the official said. PTI SUS BDC
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