139-day FTII strike ends, protests to continue

Pune FTII students who went on strike on June 12 against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as its chairman returned to their classes on Wednesday but said protests against the BJP member will go on Meanwhile three FTII alumni returned their National Awards to join the agitationThe Film and Television Institute of India students said they will continue to protest in a peaceful and democratic manner against Chauhan who they say is not fit to head the countrys premier film instituteRanjit Nair spokesperson for the FTII Students Association told IANS that the strike was overWe have come to realize after our longstretched negotiations with the government that the government is a bully a miffed Nair saidHe said the students will now invite people from all over the country who face similar problemsThe strike will escalate now Its time to register our protest all over again and take it to different heights Nair saidTo this end three prominent FTII alumni Vikrant Pawar of Maharashtra Rakesh Shukla of Uttar Pradesh and Prateek Vats of Goa decided to return their National Awards in protest against what they termed an atmosphere of intolerance in the country in the past few monthsMore will follow Nair said adding that they are looking to garner increased support from the countrys filmmaking community for their causeDuring the logjam students held multiple meetings with officials of the information and broadcasting ministry and even went on a hunger strike But there was no end to the stalemateTheir protests even found the backing of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi whose visit to the FTII campus gave the issue a political twist Even a slew of filmmakers and actors like Shyam Benegal Jahnu Barua Anupam Kher and Ranbir Kapoor voiced their concern for the studentsHowever the government refused to buckle over Chauhan forcing the student community to blinkChauhan best remembered for his work as Yudhishtir of TV series Mahabharat congratulated the students for ending the strike and told IANS over telephone that it was time for them to return to their classesNair said the students are looking forward to meet Chauhan in the institute which has produced award winning talent like Adoor Gopalakrishnan Jahnu Barua Shabana Azmi and Om PuriThe decision to end the strike followed the governments incongruous approach towards the students cause said another student leader Reema KaurThe 139 days of strike have not only made us stronger but more aware of the state that we today live in said Kaur a final year student of editing and a part of the core committee of the Students Association that spearheaded the strikeWe voiced ourselves loud and clear but it is the governments adamant stand and incongruous approach towards our valid demands that has made us completely lose faith Kaur told IANSLooking at the ministrys unrelenting approach and the amount of our valuable time spent we have decided to end the strike and resume classesHowever our voices will not shut but grow louder The protests shall continue democratically and in the peaceful manner as they have Kaur addedEarlier Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore had blamed the students for taking an extremely hard line in the matter for the lack of a solution