India Today: New Delhi: Tuesday, July 14, 2015.
In a major
embarrassment for the government in the FTII controversy, a Right to
Information (RTI) query has revealed that only Gajendra Chauhan was approached
for the post of the chairman of the institute. The government had earlier claimed
that other film personalities were also offered the position, but they refused.
The
government had been defending the choice of the Mahabharat actor as chairman of
the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) governing council, saying
"many eminent people" refused the post, leaving the Information and
Broadcasting Ministry "with a very limited list of people". "As
per record, no candidate was approached for the position of the chief of
Governing Council of FTII," says a reply to an RTI filed by The Indian
Express. "The president of the FTII is nominated by the Central
government, who acts as the chairman of this Governing Council," the RTI
reply further says.
Meanwhile, as
the strike by FTII students demanding Chauhan's resignation entered the second
month, the chorus against the controversial appointment has grown louder with
prominent filmmakers Kundan Shah and Aziz Mirza saying he should step down.
Nearly 200 protesting students of the premier institute were detained last week
by the Delhi Police. Besides students from the FTII, others from Jawaharlal
Nehru University, Delhi University and Delhi Technological University also
joined the protest.
Chauhan has
remained defiant since the row. "Whatever the government says, I will
follow. I wasn't aware about the meetings (of FTII students with the
government) but I urge the students to call off the protests and start
attending their classes otherwise, it will be a great loss for them," he
told reporters in Pune last week.
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