Rajdeep Sardesai on how government has compromised itself on FTII

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Shame on BJP for imposing Emergency on FTII

The students have been agitating for a dialogue, repeatedly requesting Jaitley, the senior minister for a meeting, to discuss the issues surrounding the appointment of a dubious C-grade actor, an active BJP member, as the chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India. Many across the film fraternity and the intelligentsia, including some ruling party members and sympathisers have criticised the government for this. The details of the four other dubious members of the newly-constituted governing council are already in public realm - these include an "eminent filmmaker" dubbed clueless about filmmaking by a Pune court in 2014, as well as members who wish to impose "nationalism" on the campus.

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If midnight knock at FTII is not Emergency-like then what is?

The government has obviously dug in its heel and is working to a game plan. The late night police crackdown in the FTII may seem an overreaction but is a blatant attempt to intimidate students to submission. The use of the rod may give the ministry temporary victory. But in the long run, this will neither solve the systemic problems plaguing the FTII, nor will it give the new director any moral authority to run the institute. Or give him the roadmap to transform it into a centre of excellence. Unless, of course, he has been mandated to plot an endgame - a Machiavellian plan to shut down the FTII itself. Even if temporarily. As a first step towards its privatisation.

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