KOLKATA: A section of the Presidency University students arranged an open-air show of 'Ram Ke Naam', a 1992 documentary based on Babri Masjid demolition, in the premises of the institute on Friday, four days after the original plan of the screening.
Over 200 students and some of the faculty members came to watch the documentary by Anand Patwardhan at the badminton court of the university, said Sayan Chakravorty, spokesman of the group of students who organised the programme.
The initial plan of the students was to hold the screening at the portico of the main building, after the authorities allegedly denied permission to show it at the university auditorium.
Chakravorty claimed, "The authorities snapped power connection to the portico, prompting us to hold the screening at the badminton court as an alternative power line is there."
Dean of students Arun Maity said he did not have information that the students would organise the screening at the badminton court.
"Till now, I have received no application by the students seeking permission to hold the screening at the portico or anywhere else in the university," he said.
Film personalities Aparna Sen and thespian Kaushik Sen sent messages expressing solidarity with the students on the issue of the screening, Chakravorty claimed.
Maity said the institute had always stood for liberal views and freedom of expression, but at the same time, it was also important to ensure that the sentiment of some others was not hurt when an event is organised by one group.
The students of the Presidency University had planned to show the documentary in the auditorium on Monday, but it was not screened following an alleged objection by the authorities.
The documentary, 'Ram ke Naam', explores the campaign by the Vishva Hindu Parishad to build a Ram temple at the site of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, as well as the subsequent communal violence.
It was screened at the Jadavpur University on Monday at the initiative of the students of its film studies department.
The ABVP had objected to the screening there.
There was, however, no untoward incident during the screening.