TV actor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Gajendra Chauhan has been appointed as the Chairman of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). More than 40 students protested with banners proclaiming ‘Silent Emergency’ and ‘Tyranny of the Elected’. The agitators are being held at the Shivajinagar police station as the first meeting of the new FTII society gets underway almost six months after its reconstitution.

Students claimed that the police resorted to violence despite “being fully aware of a silent protest” to take place against the contentious appointments of Mr. Chauhan and Sangh Parivar propagandists Anagha Ghaisas, Narendra Pathak, Rahul Solapurkar and Shailesh Gupta in the reconstituted FTII Society.

Police authorities on the spot justified their action by stating that they were compelled to remand the intransigent agitators as they refused to peacefully pave the way for the FTII society members attempting to enter the campus. Prior to the meeting, Mr. Chauhan urged the students to make up for their academic loss suffered due to the four-month strike against his controversial appointment.