New Delhi, 19 Aug 2015: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the arrest of agitating FTII students, and said the students are not criminals.
“Protesting FTII students arrested in midnight crackdown. Our students are not criminals. Silence, Suspend, Arrest: Modi Mantra for Achhe Din,” Gandhi tweeted.
In a post-midnight swoop, Maharashtra Police arrested five students of Film and Television Institute of India from their campus for rioting, damaging properties and other charges.
The arrests came after a group of striking students confined FTII Director Prashant Pathrabe and other staffers in his office for eight hours, and vandalised office furniture and fittings.
Nitish condemns arrests of FTII students
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday denounced the arrests of FTII students in Pune as “worrying signs for those who care for” democracy.
The chief minister tweeted that the Tuesday night arrests in Pune “shows shrinking space for dissent. Shocking! Worrying signs for those who care for basic democratic rights”.
Students at the Film and Television Institute of India have been protesting since June against the appointment of actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan.
B-Town condemns FTII student arrests
Mumbai: Hindi film celebrities including Shekhar Kapur, Resul Pookutty, Anand Gandhi, Hansal Mehta, Nikhil Advani and Anubhav Sinha on Wednesday condemned the arrest of protesting FTII students, and said the government should “respond with solutions not muscle”.
They said the arrests in Pune in a post-midnight swoop following a complaint by the film institute’s director was a shame, “absolutely condemnable” and sad.
Students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) have been protesting for over two months against the appointment of BJP member and TV actor Gajendra Chauhan as the facility’s chairman.
The midnight arrests, on charges of rioting and more, came after some students confined FTII director Prashant Pathrabe and other staffers in his office for eight hours and vandalised office furniture and fittings on Monday.
Opposing the decision to arrest the students, the celebrities took to Twitter, where the issue was trending under the #FTII hashtag.
Here’s what they tweeted:
Hansal Mehta: Dear government, respond with solutions not muscle.
Shekhar Kapur: There was a time FTII was considered one of the best film schools in Asia and produced some brilliant talent. What happened?
Vivek Agnihotri: FTII is a complex issue. But politicians riding on it makes it more complex. Fair people must condemn it.
Swara Bhaskar: Is this right??? What is wrong with our state??? Shame!!!
Anubhav Sinha: ABSOLUTELY CONDEMNABLE!!! You can’t ARREST dissenting students…. A Government that can’t talk through a matter with 500 students (or less???) will resolve border crisis and such???
Resul Pookutty: A senior official from I&B ministry talked to me at length at 8 p.m. about how to solve the impasse and he said they are coming to FTII in a couple of days. Then why this arrest in the middle of the night? That too including girls?!
Nikhil Advani: FTII students mid-night arrest. SAD!!!
Vishal Dadlani: Never seen a government fall so low, so quick. Family-packs of lies being sold as achievements, while freedom is crushed daily. JaiHind
Anand Gandhi: Here’s another course of action: Hear the students + experts out, accept mistake, revise appointment, kindly take leave.
(IANS)
