Kolkata, Oct 16 SRFTI has rusticated six students for allegedly assaulting the vice-chancellor and staff members and violating campus discipline, an institute official said, as the students’ agitation over campus security entered its 18th day on Friday.
The institute has also suspended regular academic activities of its Film and Electronic and Digital Media (EDM) wings until November 13, the SRFTI said in a notification.
Besides, it directed students staying on the campus, including in hostels, to vacate the premises within 24 hours.
“In view of the ensuing festive period and associated administrative requirements”, the measures had been taken in the interest of the orderly functioning of the campus, it said.
“Hostel mess facilities will also remain suspended until November 13 or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” the notification stated.
The order, however, clarified that the ITEC programme, the short-term course for capacity building, skill enhancement and cross-cutural dialogues in film, electronic media and communication for introduction to aesthetics, would continue as scheduled, “subject to specific instructions from the competent authority”.
A senior SRFTI official on Friday said six students were rusticated by the deans and heads of various departments, including cinematography, editing and filmmaking, for carrying out “vandalism” at the VC’s office and “assaulting” him.
Charges also included writing obscene graffiti on campus walls.
“A section of students is politicising the situation to further their interests. They wrote obscene graffiti on campus walls and ground, and assaulted the VC and other faculty. Deans and department heads had to rusticate them, though we don’t want to harm anyone’s career,” the official told PTI.
“We will take a call about resuming classes after a week, as the Puja vacation is slated to begin from Saturday,” he said.
Asked about the rustication of the students, Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) Students’ Union spokesperson Sudip Chakraborty claimed, “Five of us were unfairly sent rustication mails, and we are taking legal action.”
On the notice to vacate the campus, Chakraborty said, “They have given us only 24 hours and the notice is dated October 15. No student has received this officially on their email.”
The students’ union also accused Vice-Chancellor Santosh Ajmera of violating an earlier agreement on the installation of CCTV cameras on campus, and alleged that police were called in to intimidate protesters demanding his resignation.
In a statement issued on Thursday night, the union said the incident took place on the 17th day of the ongoing agitation, when students learnt that CCTV cameras were being installed on the first floor of the administrative building without prior intimation to the union.
The students claimed that an agreement reached after a 16-day protest in 2024 required the administration to inform the union and involve it in deciding the locations for CCTV cameras on campus.
They further said Ajmera had assured union representatives at a meeting on September 30 that the administration would give them three days’ advance notice before undertaking any future CCTV installation.
“No such communication was ever received by the SRFTI Students Union,” the statement said.
Protesting against the installation, students occupied the first floor of the administrative building, describing their action as a peaceful expression of dissent and an attempt to remind the administration of its earlier commitment.
According to the students, the vice-chancellor subsequently claimed that CCTV cameras were being installed after stones were thrown at his office, which allegedly shattered a window.
He also alleged that his office had been vandalised and that the pipes supplying air conditioning and water had been snapped, they said.
The union rejected the allegations as fabricated and denied any involvement of students in the incidents.
It maintained that the agitation had remained peaceful, involving sit-ins, rallies, demonstrations, artistic expression and slogan-shouting, without resorting to violence.
The students also alleged that Ajmera had called the police to the campus, and that a general diary entry had been made mentioning the names of the union’s president and general secretary (Film).
Accusing the administration of using the police to intimidate protesters, the students reiterated their demand for Ajmera’s resignation.
(PTI News)
