Will not compromise on our demands: FTII Students' Association

Pune: The striking students of FTII today ruled out any compromise on their main demand of removal of TV actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan's as chairman of the institute.

Addressing a press conference after his arrest and release on bail by a local court along with four others, FTII Students' Association (FSA) leader Vikas Urs said that conversely it should be the Information and Broadcasting Ministry which needs to dilute its hard posture on the controversial appointment.

Asked about the FSA's stand viz-a-viz the proposed visit to FTII by a high-level committee to sort out the contentious issues, he said, "we are ready and willing for any dialogue but we will not compromise on our demands."

Referring to the dramatic midnight police crackdown on the students, Urs said it amounted to "criminalisation" by the FTII administration which had lost all credibility. Five students were arrested in a midnight swoop for
rioting after they allegedly confined the premier institute's director to his chamber.

The the government has formed a three-member team, headed by the Registrar of Newspapers in India S M Khan, to assess the ground situation in FTII and end the impasse, which entered its 70th day.