2 hrs ago
Kolkata Film Institute Classes Suspended After Campus Violence
Classes at a film institute in Kolkata have been stopped for six days.
Students say people attacked them after they objected to an event on campus.
The students’ union says at least six students were hurt.
Students are staying away from classes until they get stronger safety measures and those responsible are arrested.
Police have reportedly been stationed outside the campus gate.
The group that organised the event tells a different story.
It says some of its members were attacked and students disrupted the programme.
The two sides disagree about how the violence began.
Classes at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute were suspended for a sixth day on Saturday.
Students continued an academic boycott following violence on campus on September 27.
The students’ union said at least six students were injured after objecting to an event organised by an RSS-affiliated group.
Students are demanding stronger campus security and the arrest of those responsible.
The Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat disputed the union’s account, saying its members were attacked and the programme disrupted.
- Who
- Students at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute and the Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat.
- What
- Students continued an academic boycott and classes remained suspended amid conflicting accounts of campus violence.
- Where
- The Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute campus in Kolkata, India.
- When
- Classes were suspended for a sixth day on Saturday; the reported violence occurred on September 27.
- Why
- Students are demanding stronger campus security and arrests after violence connected to an event they say they had not been told about.
Students’ union account
Organisers’ account
How the violence began
Students’ union account
The union says students objected to an event organised by members of the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat and were attacked; it says organisers had not informed the union about the event.
Organisers’ account
The Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat alleges that some of its members were attacked, leading to the violence.
What happened at the programme
Students’ union account
A union member said students were called anti-national and Naxal and attacked with knives; the union also said students were chased, had clothes torn, and had phones forcibly taken.
Organisers’ account
The group says students tore its posters and disrupted its programme.
Key facts
- Institute
- Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute
- Location
- Kolkata, India
- Classes suspended
- Sixth day as of Saturday
- Date of reported violence
- September 27
- Students reportedly injured
- At least six, according to the students’ union
- Student demands
- Heightened campus security and arrest of those responsible
- Police presence
- Kolkata Police reportedly deployed outside the main campus gate
Quotes
Poorvi Bondre
A member of the SRFTI students’ union
“Authorities want us to shoot outside the campus in a bid to resume academic activities. But we need the assurance of [the] safety of students.”
scroll.in
“They called us anti-nationals and Naxals and attacked us with knives.”
scroll.in
Sources
Related news
Kolkata Film Institute Clash Erupts Over RSS-Linked Event
SRFTI Classes Suspended for Second Day After Campus Violence
Clash at Kolkata’s SRFTI Over ABGP Campus Event
SRFTI Students Demand Answers After Alleged Campus Assaults
Three FIRs Registered After Clashes at Kolkata’s SRFTI Campus
Film Fraternity Condemns Violence at Kolkata’s SRFTI Campus
Bihar BJP-RSS Discontent Raises Questions Over Samrat Choudhary’s Leadership
Organiser Links Protests to Alleged Communist-Islamist Cabal
Gandhi’s Four Pillars of Swaraj Remain Fragile
LDF Intensifies Criticism of Satheesan Amid UDF Consultation Rift
