FTII students body alleges police high-handedness during Delhi protest

PUNE: Students of Film and Television Institute of India ( FTII) agitating for cancellation of TV actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan's appointment as its chairman today alleged that a "peaceful" protest they organised before the I&B ministry in New Delhi was "violently disrupted" by police.

"Today's peaceful protest in solidarity with striking students of FTII outside Shastri Bhavan in New Delhi was violently disrupted by police and CRPF," a statement issued by a spokesperson of the FTII Students Association (FSA) here said.

More than 100 activists and students were forcibly detained and lodged at Parliament Street police station, the statement said.

A ten-member delegation of the FSA, which included seven alumni of the premier institute that trained several leading personalities of Indian cinema, was in New Delhi to press their opposition to Chauhan's appointment as Chairman of FTII's Governing Council, on the ground that the actor had no "credibility and vision" to lead the FTII and that he was a "political appointee" in view of his close association with the ruling BJP.

The I&B ministry had invited students' representatives to discuss their grievance and restore normalcy on the campus.