FTII strike continues; removal of 5 members of Society also demanded

PUNE: On the warpath over the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of governing council of Film and Television Institute of India ( FTII) here, the students of the premiere institute today asserted that their seven-day old strike will continue till the appointment is cancelled.

The students' contention is that Chauhan lacks "vision and stature" required for the post.

The FTII Students Association (FSA) president Harishankar Nachimuthu said it has also demanded cancellation of appointment of five members of FTII Society because they have BJP-RSS links and lacked the required "credentials".

"We, along with members of the FTII alumni are deliberating on finalising our charter of demands to be presented to the (Information and Broadcasting) ministry which has said it is open for dialogue. We are seeking appointment with the ministry to discuss our demands. However, the strike will continue till the talks take place and our demands are resolved," he said.

The five members of FTII Society, appointed in `persons of eminence' category and to whom the students have taken objection, are Anagha Ghaisas, Shailesh Gupta, Narendra Pathak, Pranjal Saikia and Rahul Solapurkar. Students allege that they have affiliations with BJP and RSS, besides lacking the required credentials.