“The arrests have effectively taken the spotlight away from Chauhan’s stormy appointment and those of the four Sangh Parivar propagandists part of the Governing Council – the very reason for our agitation”, said Ranjit Nair, spokesman of the FTII Students’ Association (FSA).
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Viewing director Prashant Pathrabe’s decision on assessing their work as a tactic to ease their colleagues from the 2008 batch off the campus and break the strike, several students surrounded him in his office on Monday as he held discussions with six faculty members.
Making a strong plea for students, he said, “I was gheraoed too”.
“The team headed by Khan and comprising two more I&B Ministry officials will visit Pune tomorrow and give its report on the situation there”, official sources said.
The Akhil Bhartaiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students wing of the RSS, which is keeping a close watch on the FTII row and the students’ strike, has termed the AAP demonstration in Pune as a “politically-motivated opportunistic move”. Silence. Suspend. Arrest: “Modi Mantra for Ache Din”, the Congress Vice President said on Twitter earlier in the day. They formed chains to forcefully block me.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed “shock” over the police action and offered temporary “space” to the students in Delhi to continue their studies.
The students had been objecting to the institute asking 2008 batch members to leave the hostel, and deciding to evaluate them even though they haven’t finished their final project. Run your classes here till central government agrees.
The accused students have been charged under various sections of IPC including 143, 147, 149, 323, 353, 506 etc. dealing with offences some of them non-bailable related to unlawful assembly, criminal intimidation and rioting.
“An FIR has been filed against all those who have been brought here”. The arrests cap a long-running showdown between students and the institute due to a larger controversy involving the government’s appointment of a new chairman, Gajendra Chauhan.
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Another female student claimed that it was police, who manhandled the students and had a scuffle with them while trying to disperse the group.
