Amid dramatic scenes and vociferous demonstrations by the Film and Television Institute of India students, television actor and Bharatiya Janata Party member Gajendra Chauhan on Thursday took charge as chairman of the premiere institute in Pune, even as police detained nearly 40 protesters who were calling him a "political appointee".
The students said they would withdraw their hunger strike to pave way for a dialogue with the government if the I&B ministry confirmed a date for talks to resolve their demands including removal of actor Gajendra Chauhan from the institute's chairmanship.
Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday slammed the government over the arrest of protesting Film and Television Institute of India students, telling Prime Minister Narendra Modi that they are not criminals.
In a series of tweets, Kher said that the filmmakers' decision is an insult to the Censor Board jury and the audience.
The agitating FTII students on Sunday called off their 18-day-old "hunger strike" in response to the government's communication inviting them for a dialogue.
An FTII students' body representative said they will not sacrifice academics anymore for a government that is "deaf and a bully".
In a midnight crackdown at the Film and Television Institute of India at Pune, five students were arrested by the police after the institute's director, Prashant Pathrabe lodged a complaint against them for detaining him on campus on Monday.
When contacted, Pathrabe had told PTI earlier in the evening that he had been gheraoed by the students, but was "safe".
Rahul will meet the President seeking his intervention for resolving the issue related to the FTII, Congress sources said.
Prashant Pathrabe, a 1992 batch officer of IIS, has been given temporary charge as director of the FTII.
Asked about the students' agitation in FTII, he said he will talk about it only after taking charge but added that it was a "difficult situation" and he hoped to do his best.
Deadlock over the appointment of TV actor and Bharatiya Janata Party member Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India's governing council entered the sixteenth day on Saturday
Police suspects that the packet must have been sent before Kumar's visit to Pune on April 24, when Pathrabe was the director of FTII.
'I will try to make sure everything runs smoothly from now on.' Is Gajendra Chauhan having the last laugh?
Yet another round of talks on Tuesday failed to end the standoff between the government and FTII students over the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as its Chairman, with the students alleging "unwillingness or inability" of the authorities to act upon their core concerns.
A three-member delegation of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is at the FTII campus in Pune to hold discussions with the faculty, director and agitating students to find a solution to the crisis triggered by the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan at its chairman.
Striking Film and Television Institute of India students called for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in resolving the 71-day-old crisis in the premier institute over the appointment of TV actor and Bharatiya Janata Party member Gajendra Chauhan as its chairman.
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The Deccan-Gymkhana police, which is probing the case, filed the chargesheet against 35 students in a court and the next hearing will be held on April 2, the prosecution said.
12 student protestors were detained.
'The government says it is trying to improve the institute, but its latest appointments say otherwise.'
The students will now be meeting Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore next week.
The govt also said that there would be no rethink on the government's decision of appointing Gajendra Chauhan as chairman.
They also approached Union Minister Prakash Javadekar and Janata Dal-United leader K C Tyagi.
'I defy all the controversy. For me, it is meaningless. They say the students are unhappy that I have been appointed as the head of FTII. They have not seen my work so how can they be unhappy?' Gajendra Chauhan tries to justify his appointment to head the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India.
Govil has already expressed his wish to work for a political party, which follows the agenda of harmonious development.
Gajendra Chauhan is just one the many troubles that ail the national film institute. But all may not be lost yet.
Meanwhile, the three-member committee constituted by the information and broadcasting ministry to examine the "ground situation" at Film and Television Institute of India submitted its report.
FTII students stuck to their demand for revoking the appointment of Chauhan as chairman of its governing council
As the strike by the Film and Television Institute of India students entered the fifth day, the Information and Broadcasting ministry on Tuesday offered to discuss "all relevant issues" after they stuck to their demand for revoking the appointment of actor and Bharatiya Janata Party member Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of its governing council.
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Intensifying their protest, three students of the Film and Television Institute of India have gone on hunger strike demanding the resignation of Gajendra Chauhan.
On the warpath over the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as FTII chairman, students of the premier institute on Monday threatened to launch a hunger strike for his ouster as the fast by a faculty member for "immediate resolution" of the crisis entered its third day on Monday.
The Information and broadcasting ministry, which has constituted a three-member committee to study the ground situation, meanwhile maintained that though it was willing to discuss and resolve issues the students were being inflexible.
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Another 24 filmmakers including Kundan Shah of "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro" fame and Saeed Mirza and writer Arundhati Roy today returned their National Awards over "growing intolerance", voicing fears that the country's robust democracy might be "coming apart" in the current atmosphere.
Accusing striking students of Film and Television Institute of India of insulting behaviour, using cruel interrogation and causing mental torture, its director Prashant Pathrabe on Wednesday said he approached the police as a deterrent step and rejected suggestion that action was taken under pressure from the information and broadcasting ministry.
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'Bullying is not going to scare me.' 'Nana Patekar has no powerful friends. It is just a perception created by his friends.' 'I have really powerful voices like Maneka Gandhi supporting me.'
Former India cricket captain Bishen Singh Bedi said the appointment "defies all logic".
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