CHENNAI: With the protest against the appointment of Gajendra ‘Yudhishthira’ Chauhan as Chairman of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) governing council gathering steam, students have found support from unexpected quarters down South too -- from IIT-M’s recently reinstated Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle (APSC).
One of the members of the APSC, Abhinav Surya, alleged that the “move by the Centre is yet another way to thrust saffron agenda on educational institutions and filter thoughts and output of students”.
Abhinav further added how it seemed to be a tactical move by the government to spread pro-BJP ideologies among students of premier institutes of the country. Another member of the study circle, Ramesh, mirrored Abhinav’s views on the issue. “All of us here at APSC have been closely keeping a watch on the events transpiring at FTII, Pune. We see in Pune a situation similar to the one we had here. We are in solidarity with the Pune strike.” Students from FTII have strongly asserted that the credibility factor is what has kept them from accepting Chauhan as the chairman and is the primary cause of the protest. Asked about this, Ranjith Nair, a third year student and a co-committee member leading the students’ strike, said, “Credibility and saffronisation are two sides of the same coin when it comes to Gajendra Chauhan. We do not have a problem with political affiliations, but when we dug up his work file, we realised that he is not of the same calibre as his predecessors.” The post of the FTII chairman has been held by the likes of Girish Karnad and Shyam Benegal. Chauhan, however, maintains that he is being victimised and asked students not to judge him by his past work and told them that he would “learn on the job”.
Chauhan is best known as Yudhishthira in the hugely popular Mahabharata TV series produced by B R Chopra and aired on Doordarshan between 1988 and 1990. Other than this, Chauhan has appeared in numerous television soaps.
Associated with the BJP for two decades, Chauhan formally joined the party in 2004. He extensively campaigned for the BJP in Haryana during the Lok Sabha elections last year. His appointment as FTII chief on June 10 sent ripples across the film fraternity, with many viewing it as an instance of political largesse.
Prateek Vats, a former FTII student and a national award winner,said, “It is a stupid move on the government’s part. It makes me question the process entailed to nominate such a person to lead an institution, which is home to generations of filmmakers who put India on the map. By degrading the autonomy of the institution, how do you expect students to be inspired to come up with art that spaces from a free thinking zone?” he asks.