Press Releases

Details: Press Releases; 11 August 2015

It's been many weeks since the students of FTTI and Pondicherry University chose the war path for the cause of justice. Despite the continues demands from all quarters of the society and even seeing the increasing mass support for the movements the authorities has not been seemed considering the genuine concerns of the protesting students of both the institutions yet. In the cases of both the premier academic institutions in the country, Instead of meeting the demands the authorities are trying to curtail the democratic voices and imposing anti-student agendas with the support of BJP led Central government.

The Film and Television Institute of India, FTII has been witnessing the outrage of the students ever since the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the chairman of the institution is declared. Gajendra Chauhan, a faithful fellow traveler of Sangh Parivar for a long time is gifted with the charge of the office for nothing but the same association with the saffron brigade. The only qualification of him to gain the post was his history of acting a role of Yudishtara in the Mahabharatha TV serial and some B grade movies. The appointment of Gajendra Chauhan should be counted together with the continuing attempts of BJP led NDA government to saffronise all the cultural and educational institutions in the country. He has been associated with BJP for last two decades and an active member since 2004. He was one of the forefront campaigners of BJP in the last Loksabha election. FTII which produced many finest talents of Indian cinema was headed in the past by stalwarts like Shyam Benagal, Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Girish karnad and so on. The appointment of Gajendra Chauhan is another attempt by Modi Government to bring the major research and cultural institutions of the country under the complete control of Sangh Parivar by filling them with their servile ideological henchmen.

Pondicherry University students has launched a massive struggle demanding the resignation of Vice Chancellor Mrs. Chandra Krishnamurthy who gained the post by submitting fake bio-data. Pondicherry University (a 30 year old Central University) is headed by Mrs. Chandra Krishnamurthy, whose appointment violated the Act and Statutes of the University. The situation in the university took a turn for the worse after she took the charge of the VC two and Half years ago. The fee was hiked by almost 200% in this period. The building which was inaugurated during the tenure of the earlier VC for 24 hour library hasn't been made functional yet. Students of different disciplines are heavily affected by the lack of proper infrastructure. The administration of this university has also become infamous for its approach of protecting the culprits of Ragging and sexual harassment and victimising those who stand against such atrocities.

It is highly condemnable that instead of meeting the demands of the protesting students the authorities are threatening them with Police and disciplinary actions. It is in this context the Central Executive Committee of SFI calls upon all its units to raise up in solidarity with the ongoing struggles in FTII and Pondicherry University. SFI will mobilize students across the nation through solidarity programmes in favor of these struggles. We demand the concerned authorities to immediately intervene in the issue and ensure justice to the students of both institutions.

Released by

Dr. V Sivadasan, President

Ritabrata Banerjee MP, General Secretary

Details: Press Releases; 11 August 2015

11-08-2015

It's been many weeks since the students of FTTI and Pondicherry University chose the war path for the cause of justice. Despite the continues demands from all quarters of the society and even seeing the increasing mass support for the movements the authorities has not been seemed considering the genuine concerns of the protesting students of both the institutions yet. In the cases of both the premier academic institutions in the country, Instead of meeting the demands the authorities are trying to curtail the democratic voices and imposing anti-student agendas with the support of BJP led Central government.

The Film and Television Institute of India, FTII has been witnessing the outrage of the students ever since the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the chairman of the institution is declared. Gajendra Chauhan, a faithful fellow traveler of Sangh Parivar for a long time is gifted with the charge of the office for nothing but the same association with the saffron brigade. The only qualification of him to gain the post was his history of acting a role of Yudishtara in the Mahabharatha TV serial and some B grade movies. The appointment of Gajendra Chauhan should be counted together with the continuing attempts of BJP led NDA government to saffronise all the cultural and educational institutions in the country. He has been associated with BJP for last two decades and an active member since 2004. He was one of the forefront campaigners of BJP in the last Loksabha election. FTII which produced many finest talents of Indian cinema was headed in the past by stalwarts like Shyam Benagal, Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Girish karnad and so on. The appointment of Gajendra Chauhan is another attempt by Modi Government to bring the major research and cultural institutions of the country under the complete control of Sangh Parivar by filling them with their servile ideological henchmen.

Pondicherry University students has launched a massive struggle demanding the resignation of Vice Chancellor Mrs. Chandra Krishnamurthy who gained the post by submitting fake bio-data. Pondicherry University (a 30 year old Central University) is headed by Mrs. Chandra Krishnamurthy, whose appointment violated the Act and Statutes of the University. The situation in the university took a turn for the worse after she took the charge of the VC two and Half years ago. The fee was hiked by almost 200% in this period. The building which was inaugurated during the tenure of the earlier VC for 24 hour library hasn't been made functional yet. Students of different disciplines are heavily affected by the lack of proper infrastructure. The administration of this university has also become infamous for its approach of protecting the culprits of Ragging and sexual harassment and victimising those who stand against such atrocities.

It is highly condemnable that instead of meeting the demands of the protesting students the authorities are threatening them with Police and disciplinary actions. It is in this context the Central Executive Committee of SFI calls upon all its units to raise up in solidarity with the ongoing struggles in FTII and Pondicherry University. SFI will mobilize students across the nation through solidarity programmes in favor of these struggles. We demand the concerned authorities to immediately intervene in the issue and ensure justice to the students of both institutions.

Released by
Dr. V Sivadasan, President
Ritabrata Banerjee MP, General Secretary

Details: Press Releases; 06 August 2015

SFI central executive committee stands in solidarity with the students of Film and Television Institute of India, FTII who are bravely protesting against the shameless attempts to saffronise one of the prime Institutes of the country. An indefinite hunger strike has been launched by the students against the Modi led NDA Government's appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the chairman of the governing Council of FTII. Chauhan, whose only credential to head the internationally reputed Institute is that he played the role of Yudishtar in the Mahabharatha TV serial which was telecasted by Doordarshan during early 90's. He is a vocal supporter of BJP for last two decades and also a member since 2004. He was an active campaigner for Modi during the last general election. FTII which produced many finest talents of Indian cinema was headed in the past by stalwarts like Shyam Benagal, Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Girish karnad and so on. The appointment of Gajendra Chauhan is another attempt by Modi Government to bring the major research and cultural institutions of the country under the complete control of Sangh Parivar by filling them with their servile ideological henchmen.

For the past one year of Modi Government serious efforts are being made to saffronise the educational and cultural institutions. The appointment of Chauhan is not the first instance where Sangh Parivar's dangerous communal agenda has been pushed forward. Earlier Sudarsan Rao, a true Modi disciple and RSS sympathizer was appointed as the head of Indian Council for Historical Research, ICHR. Rao's qualification to hold this position was nothing but his ability to replace historical facts with Hindu mythologies. In another attempt historians like Romila Thapar and Irfan Habib were thrown out from the ICHR advisory board by the government, replacing them with the sympathisers of Sangh's Hindutva ideology. Baldev Sharma who was the editor of Panchajanya, the mouth piece of RSS was appointed as the head of National Book Trust, NBT earlier this year.

These desperate attempts are only aimed to suppress all voices of dissent and to create a favorable social and cultural atmosphere for the terrorizing pursuit of neo liberal policies of Modi government. Along with the assaults on the Democratic and secular values of the Indian society, Sangh Parivar is trying to uproot the very core of rational thought and the objective historical consciousness. To implement this Janus faced policy paradigm of Hindutva a and neo liberalism, Sangh Parivar has chosen educational Institutes especially Universities and other research centers as the primary target. To resist this right wing Hindutva agenda, collective resistance by the progressive and secular forces has to be Organised on a mass scale. It is important to remember that only because of such a valiant resistance that the MHRD was forced to remove the ban on Ambedkar-Periyar study Circle in Madras IIT. SFI CEC gives a call to rise up in protest nation wide in solidarity with the fighting students of FTII and to resist the continuing undemocratic and anti student moves by Modi led right wing NDA Government.

Released by

Dr V Sivadasan, President

Ritabrata Banerjee, General Secretar

Details: Press Releases; 02 August 2015

Central executive committee of Students Federation of India condemn the attempt to portray Asaram Bapu, a rape accused and self styled godman, as a “great saint” in the class IIIrd text book in the schools of Jodhpur, Rajasthan. This rape accused godman has been lined up with Guru Nanak, Swami Vivekananda, Mother Teresa, Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and Maharishi Dayanand on the page 40 of the book Naya Ujala. It should be counted as nothing less than a continuation of the blatant attempt to communalize the school texts and promote sangh parivar propaganda by both the BJP led NDA govt in the centre and the BJP state govt of Rajasthan. What is more shocking is that the book is published by Delhi-based Gurukul Prakashan which claims to be based on NCERT’s Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation guidelines. A serious effort has been launched by the RSS sponsored BJP led central and state governments to saffronize every sphere of education beginning from school texts to the institutions of higher education. The sangh parivar attacks on rational thought, replacing historical facts with mythology, sidelining scientific outlook and secular framework of academic arena needs to be resisted tooth and nail. Earlier there was an incident of distributing circular asking to join in BJP in Ryan international school. The appointment of Baldev Sharma, a former editor of sangh parivar organ Panchajanya, to the head of national book trust has to be read along with this communal game plan. SFI demand the Rajasthan state government to withdraw the text book immediately. We request all the secular and progressive forces to come together to defeat the communal agendas carried forwarded by the BJP governments in the educational sector.

Released by

Dr V Sivadasan, President

Ritabrata Banerjee MP, General Secretary