Kolkata, Oct. 16 -- The Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) has rusticated six students over alleged vandalism at the vice-chancellor's (V-C) office and the alleged manhandling of vice-chancellor Santosh Ajmera.
The decision was taken at an emergency council meeting following incidents on Wednesday night and Thursday. The administration alleged that students pelted the vice-chancellor's office with stones on Wednesday night, shattering windowpanes and damaging furniture. Water and air-conditioning lines were also cut. The office was found strewn with broken glass and stones on Thursday morning, the institute said. The administration further alleged that students gheraoed Ajmera, raised slogans and used abusive language as faculty members and officials were leaving a meeting convened to condemn the vandalism. One student allegedly manhandled the vice-chancellor.
The SRFTI students' union denied the allegations, describing them as fabricated. Union president Blossom Hazarika and vice-president Shubham Waydande claimed that campus security personnel had told police they had neither witnessed nor noticed the alleged incident. The immediate trigger for Thursday's confrontation was the installation of CCTV cameras on the first floor of the administrative building. The union said students learnt about the installation while protesting opposite the building on the 17th day of their agitation.
According to the union, an agreement reached after a 16-day protest in 2024 gave students a say in deciding where cameras would be installed. It also claimed that Ajmera had assured the union at a meeting on September 30 that it would receive three days' notice before any further installation. The union said it had received no such notice.
Students subsequently occupied the first floor of the administrative building to protest the installation.
The union maintained that its agitation had remained peaceful, involving sit-ins, rallies, demonstrations, slogans and art. It also alleged that police had entered the campus and recorded general diary entries naming Hazarika and the film department's general secretary.
The union described the move as an attempt to intimidate protesters.
In a separate office order dated October 15, the institute suspended regular academic activities in the Film and Electronic and Digital Media wings until November 13, unless directed otherwise.
Students staying on campus, including in hostels, were asked to vacate within 24 hours.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.