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In a midnight swoop, police arrested five students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune, charging them with rioting and other offences in connection with the gherao of director Prashant Pathrabe. The students had gheraoed Mr. Pathrabe on Monday evening, challenging his decision to go ahead with the assessment of the incomplete diploma film projects of the 2008 batch. The director had remained confined in his office cabin for over six hours.

Those arrested included the FTII Students’ Association (FSA) representative Vikas Urs. “FIRs have been filed against 15 students out of which five have been arrested,” DCP T Tushar Doshi said. The accused students have been charged under various sections of IPC, including 143, 147, 149, 323, 353, 506 etc. dealing with offences, some of them non-bailable, related to unlawful assembly, criminal intimidation and rioting.

The FIR filed on a complaint by Mr. Pathrabe stated that the accused obstructed and wrongfully restrained him after office hours and mentally harassed him questioning about the assessment work. The students are also charged with vandalising the director’s office and damaging glass panes, computer and table.

The students have termed Mr.Pathrabe’s decision to conduct the assessment of incomplete film projects as “unjust, unfair and unjustified” without approval of the academic council of FTII and aimed at weakening the current protest.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has refused to hold further dialogue with the agitating students after failure of the July 3 talks in Delhi where the demand for removal of Mr. Chauhan was cold-shouldered by the officials, asking them to return to classes being boycotted since June 12. The students have been striking for the last 69 days against appointment of BJP member and TV actor Gajendra Chauhan as the Institute chairman.

Kejriwal offers temporary space

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal showed his solidarity to the striking FTII students and offered them temporary space in Delhi to run their classes.

Rahul Gandhi reacts to the arrest:

Here’s a look at the FTII limbo that has been going for weeks now:

FTII Limbo

Gajendra Chauhan, an actor-turned-politician, was appointed as the chairman of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) on June 9, 2015. His appointment triggered an indefinite strike by students of the institute on June 12.

Who is Chauhan?

Mr. Chauhan is best known as ’Yudhisthira’ in the Mahabharata TV series aired on television in 1988-90. He has been associated with BJP for over two decades but formally joined the party in 2004.

Why protest?

Students of FTII have questioned Mr. Chauhan’s body of work and "creative credentials." The students doubt if Mr. Chauhan can fit in the shoes of predecessors like R.K. Laxman, Syam Benegal, Girish Karnad and U.R. Ananthamurthy.

Political vendetta?

Students claim that Mr. Chauhan’s appointment is an attempt of the ruling party to foist its right-wing agenda upon the Institute.

Supporters

Besides, prominent film personalities, All India Students’ Association (AISA), the Kolkata-based Satyajit Ray Film Institute, and students at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) are all coming out strongly in support of the striking students.