E-Paper
SRFTI rusticates six students for assaulting VC, violating campus discipline
SRFTI rusticates six students for assaulting VC, violating campus discipline
Prefer HTon Google
Kolkata, 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.
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.
Asked about the rustication of the students, Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute Students' Union spokesperson Sudip Chakraborty claimed, "Five of us were unfairly sent rustication mails, and we are taking legal action."
The students' union, meanwhile, 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 cut, 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 further 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 .
They claimed that the campus security in-charge had informed the police that security personnel had neither noticed nor witnessed any such incident.
Accusing the administration of using the police to intimidate protesters, the students reiterated their demand for Ajmera's resignation.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
