‘Bouncers’ in FTII due to insecure atmosphere, says Director
Pune: Under attack for deployment of bouncers at FTII, institute director Prashant Pathrabe on Saturday said deploying them on the campus after his "gherao" and the arrest of agitating students was an "administrative decision" taken in view of the prevailing "insecure" atmosphere.
"I had not asked for extra security but it is true that I felt extremely insecure following my 11-hour ordeal during the gherao by the students in office cabin on Monday evening. The FTII administration took the decision on the extra security following the incident," Pathrabe told PTI.
He was reacting to the criticism from the striking students and faculty, who said the additional security measure conveyed a wrong impression of the situation at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and projected the students as "criminals or terrorists".
Even the three-member Information and Broadcasting Ministry team, which visited the premier institute yesterday to have a day-long discussions with all stake-holders to find a solution to the 72-day old strike over the appointment of TV actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan, took a different view on the beefed up security measures in the form of "bouncers".
The I & B delegation leader S M Khan, at the end of his talks, told reporters that he was of the opinion that the beefed up security was not required on the campus. Pathrabe, however, maintained he was "tortured" by the students during the gherao and the footage circulated by them was a "selective leak" to camouflage the truth of his harassment.
"The video footage being shown in the media is only from the initial stage of the 11-hour gherao and does not show my worsening ordeal during the confinement," he added.
Khan said the team had a very good discussion with the students and other stakeholders, and will submit its report to the I & B Ministry by Monday.
The student representatives, too, have expressed "happiness" over the positive approach of Ministry officials, saying while they hopeful of an early resolution of their demands, which includes removal of Chauhan, the strike will continue till all issues are addressed.
