SRFTI Kolkata extends campus closure till December 11 as tensions with students escalate

Amid the protests on campus, the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) administration has extended the campus closure till December 11. SRFTI students have alleged that the SRFTI administration is adopting measures of restraint instead of resolving the crisis.

In a fresh development, the institute has terminated its two contractual members, several resource persons have lost their jobs, and one faculty member has been served a show-cause notice, media reports reveal. 

Agitating students have also alleged irregularities in disciplinary actions taken against them and condemned the administration for issuing show-cause notices to 14 students and rusticating six others. 

The developments have raised concerns over the admin’s actions and the growing crackdown within the institution. 

Also read Over 2,500 reserved faculty posts vacant across 17 IITs; at 10 institutes, over 60 depts with no SC teacher

Academic activities suspended till December 11

According to a senior official, the situation was reviewed in consultation with deans of both films and EDM (Electronic and Digital Media) wings, and the earlier order has been extended till December 11. 

Earlier, on October 16, the institute suspended academic activities in its film and EDM wings and directed all students staying on the campus, including those in hostels, to vacate the premises within 24 hours.  

Tensions have risen after the campus closure was extended, with students claiming the authorities are imposing collective punishment and acting against teachers and resource persons who back their academic activities.

A faculty member has been served a show-cause notice for allegedly facilitating the entry of renowned cinematographer and documentary filmmaker Ranjan Palit onto the campus to conduct a workshop, students claimed. 

Also read SRFTI Kolkata alumni backs students, says police deployment escalated tensions; urges VC to hold talks

‘Administrative failure continues’

In a statement titled 'How long will this administrative failure continue?,' the students said that besides the halt in academic activities, they had also been denied basic necessities such as food, drinking water, electricity and Wi-Fi. The statement said they were being made to live and study in conditions that were unacceptable and did not support their safety, dignity, or well-being. 

The students added that SRFTI had never faced such a situation in its history, and they demanded accountability from the institute’s authorities along with the immediate return of normal academic and campus life.

Defending the heightened security, SRFTI officials pointed to allegations of intimidation, physical abuse and vandalism, and charged that protesting students had refused to leave the hostels despite instructions

"We had on October 13 initially suspended film and digital media classes till November 13 but are forced to extend it by about a month in the wake of the situation," an official said.

SRFTI Kolkata has been witnessing protests since September last week following alleged attacks on students during an RSS-linked Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat event on the campus. The stir intensified after a second alleged attack early in October, during a rally, with students organising sit-ins and raising concerns over their safety, privacy and freedom of movement.