Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Letter of support- Aman Biradari
Aman
Biradari expresses deep distress over the violent attack on five
students of FTII on 21 August, 2013 by activists of the ABVP. This
reflects a growing climate of not just intolerance but also all
progressive, egalitarian, secular and humanist streams of thought and
cultural expression. The ABVP and other organisations are free to hold
differing political and social views precisely because this is a
democracy, but they forget that the hallmark of a democracy is mutually
respectful debate, not the violent suppression of opposing ideologies.
It is this same violent intolerance to rationalist and progressive
thought that resulted in the tragic murder of Narendra Dhabolkar. The
liberal, pluralist and creative space of the FTII, and institute of
excellence, must be preserved, as must the larger social traditions of
respectful engagement with differing viewpoints, tolerance, democracy
and non-violence.
Harsh Mander
Aman Biradari,
105/6-A, Adhchini,
Aurobindo Marg,
New Delhi - 110017Letter of support from L.V. Prasad Film and TV Academy
Dear Friends
It is indeed a matter of deep shame that the ugly head of religion and intolerance does not tire of raising itself even in such an avowed secular framework like our nation and in such a peaceful event as the screening of a film. We, at the LV Prasad Film & TV Academy would like to express our solidarity and resolve to continue with our deep felt belief in democratic values and to protect the right to artistic expression by every citizen.
We will put up the notices on our board and pass this on to all those who are equally concerned about the trampling of such fundamental rights. We will all be there in spirit when the march takes place on Monday. Kindly convey our heartfelt sympathies to those young students who had to face the brunt of the ugly attacks.
yours in solidarity
K. Hariharan
Director
LV Prasad Film & TV Academy
It is indeed a matter of deep shame that the ugly head of religion and intolerance does not tire of raising itself even in such an avowed secular framework like our nation and in such a peaceful event as the screening of a film. We, at the LV Prasad Film & TV Academy would like to express our solidarity and resolve to continue with our deep felt belief in democratic values and to protect the right to artistic expression by every citizen.
We will put up the notices on our board and pass this on to all those who are equally concerned about the trampling of such fundamental rights. We will all be there in spirit when the march takes place on Monday. Kindly convey our heartfelt sympathies to those young students who had to face the brunt of the ugly attacks.
yours in solidarity
K. Hariharan
Director
LV Prasad Film & TV Academy
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Letter of support from the former chairman - Dr U R Ananthamurthy
As a former chairman of FTII I support the appeal of its director. I have seen the documentary that our great film maker Patwardhan has produced on Ambedkar It is a shame that a group of young men have reacted violently when the documentary was shown. No creativity will be possible if we allow such intolerance. I write this to express my solidarity with the honourable director of the FTII
U.R.Ananthamurthy
former charman, FTII
Chancellor, Central University, Gulbarga
Kannada Writer
Punyanagari (The Virtuous City): Anand Patwardhan
Pune, Aug 22. Last night a FTII and Yugpath student organized screening of “Jai Bhim Comrade” began with a tribute to anti-superstition campaigner Narendra Dabholkar, who had just the previous day been gunned down by fanatics in the same city. It was our 4th screening of the film at the FTII and as before, the large NFAI auditorium was overflowing. The screening and discussions went off without a hitch. Not a single audience question led me to suspect that Hindutva elements were in attendance. In fact I am always happy to get questions from opposite sides of the political spectrum as I believe that such debates and discussions benefit everyone and are precisely the function of the kind of cinema I believe in.
As the film and discussion ended, some audience members left but more poured in for the next event - the first stage appearance of members of the Kabir Kala Manch in over two years. It was of course a depleted KKM. Accused by the State of associating with Naxalites, three of their main singers and poets are still in jail awaiting trial. Last month Sheetal Sathe, their charismatic lead singer/poet was granted bail but was unavailable having just delivered a baby. Barring Deepak Dengle, other KKM members who are out of prison, were not lead singers but part of the chorus or the support team. As Jyoti Jagtap said to the audience in her introduction: “We are not trained musicians from the Gwalior gharana, or the Jaipur or Agra gharanas. We are working class youth from the basti, factory and farm-labour gharanas. We won’t be able to deliver the perfect note or play the perfect instrument but if you listen to our words, I am confident that what we have to say will be of interest.”
KKM lived upto its promise. They began with a song they dedicated to the memory of Narendra Dabholkar. It was the Ambedkar inspired song against superstition “Amhi Devhara Bajula Saarlay” (We have set aside all our gods). Following this was a rousing anti-nuclear song on Jaitapur, then the moving “Sau” an ode to Savitribai Phule and concluding with the defiant: “Kabir wants to break his shackles to dance and sing. Let him dance and sing !”
The entire audience was captivated. People were elated and milled around in the NFAI premises for a long time afterwards. Some students sent for chai, others wanted to take group photos. Suddenly I saw Deepak Dengle surrounded by an animated group of about a dozen people. After a while we realized that this group was hostile and we pulled Deepak away to have tea rather than allow an argument to escalate. The group now took their wrath out on FTII students. A single plain-clothes policeman at the site seemed completely disinclined to stop the aggression. Suddenly the group revealed its identity by chanting ABVP slogans and shouting “Down with Naxalites”. Out of nowhere orange flags and sticks appeared and began to be brandished. Finally as people walked away from them the group seemed to disperse and we got on with our tea and photos. But the group had merely retreated into the darkness and not dispersed. Outside the NFAI compound they physically attacked and injured 5 FTII students, one of whom was hospitalized with a head injury that needed stitches. Concerned with the safety of KKM, the students escorted them out and they all reached home safely.
So ended KKM’s first stage reappearance in over two years. It will be recalled that a few months ago 2 KKM members were jailed overnight at Taloja for singing songs at a protest march against a builder who had usurped a pilgrimage site connected with the working class Saint Tukaram. The police claimed they had sung “Naxalite” songs. The songs in question happened to be composed by the legendary Ambedkarite poet Vamandada Kardak. A pattern of suppression seems to be emerging. By branding them as Naxalites the State has succeeded in creating a tag which even a court judgment in favour of KKM may not remove. When they emerge from jail they will be followed and harassed either by the police or by right-wing vigilantes.
Another pattern is emerging. Two days ago “unknown” gunmen killed Narendra Dabholkar in broad daylight. No right-wing group has taken credit. All the vociferous opponents of Dabholkar from the mainstream BJP and Shiv Sena to the lunatic fringe of the Hindu right, deny all responsibility. Yes we opposed him they admit, but no, we did not kill him. Last night at least the ABVP was not shy to announce who they were. This is of course easier to do when you can paint your opponents as anti-national Naxalites. Earlier Dabholkar too was branded as a Naxalite in some quarters. The non-violent anti-nuclear protestors in Kudankulam have been called Naxalites as have been people connected with Medha Patkar. Naxalites are now entering our cities, scream the newspapers. They will soon be pouring out from our taps.
IPTA: Regarding The Incident in FTII Pune
What we see today around us is that the staunch fundamentalists have taken in to their hands to disrupt the peace, and tear into shreds the Ganga-Jamani culture which is the strong foundation of our society.
They under the inspired leadership of so called popular leaders, and their respective fundamentalist organisations have taken our Nation to ransom.The vandalism at Ahmedabad under the very eyes of Narendra Modi, the aspirant of the post of Prime Minister of India, destroying the innocent paintings of a Pakistani artist, the uncalled for 84 Kosi yatra in U.P. supporting Asaram for his heinous crime, assassination of Dr. Dhabholkar, and the shocking incident at the FTII Pune, are but a few incidents. This is just the beginning.The avalanche
is yet to come. The artists, novelists, poets, dancers, film-makers, theatre, media and intellectuals must come together to condemn these acts and the attack on our Ganga-Jamani culture, in a very planned and strong manner.
I strongly condemn this incident at FTII, Pune.
Ranbir Sinh,
President
They under the inspired leadership of so called popular leaders, and their respective fundamentalist organisations have taken our Nation to ransom.The vandalism at Ahmedabad under the very eyes of Narendra Modi, the aspirant of the post of Prime Minister of India, destroying the innocent paintings of a Pakistani artist, the uncalled for 84 Kosi yatra in U.P. supporting Asaram for his heinous crime, assassination of Dr. Dhabholkar, and the shocking incident at the FTII Pune, are but a few incidents. This is just the beginning.The avalanche
is yet to come. The artists, novelists, poets, dancers, film-makers, theatre, media and intellectuals must come together to condemn these acts and the attack on our Ganga-Jamani culture, in a very planned and strong manner.
I strongly condemn this incident at FTII, Pune.
Ranbir Sinh,
President
Indian People's Theatre Organisation (IPTA)
Down with goondaism PSF stands in solidarity with FTII students
In the evening of Wednesday, 21st August, 2013, five students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune were beaten up near the National Film Archives of India (NFAI) by members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). It is learnt that one student was hit on the head and had to be taken to a hospital. The attack took place soon after the screening of Anand Patwardhan’s documentary Jai Bheem Comrade and the performance by Kabir Kala Manch artists. It is also learnt that all this happened in front of the police, who turned a blind eye to the goondaism of ABVP.
The FTII incident is in line with recent attacks by right-wing groups across the country to stifle freedom of speech and expression and scientific/rational thoughts. On 16th August, an art gallery was vandalized by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal men in Ahmedabad as it featured paintings of some Pakistani artists. On 20th August, noted social activist and campaigner against superstition- Dr. Narendra Dabholkar- was shot dead by unidentified gunmen. It is well known that Dr. Dabholkar had been under attack from a number of right-wing groups in Pune and Maharashtra.
PSF strongly condemns all such attacks across the country. In the case of FTII incident, the PSF demands that the police should book ABVP men responsible for the attack on the students. It extends its solidarity to the students of the institute. A mass political and ideological struggle alone will ensure the defeat of the agenda of right-wing forces and lead to a more democratization of our society.
Progressive Students’ Forum (PSF)
Tata Institute of Social Sciences
23rd August, 2013
All India Students' Association (AISA) Statement Against ABVP's Attack On FTII Students
AISA strongly condemns the fascist assault by ABVP goons on five FTII (Film and Television Institute) students in Pune. The FTII students, who had organized a meeting to pay homage to the slain anti-superstition activist Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, had planned to screen Anand Patwardhan’s film Jai Bhim Comrade and had invited artists from the Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) to perform at the meeting. ABVP goons, true to their track record of violence and hooliganism, brutally beat up the FTII students ostensibly to “punish” them for inviting artists with alleged “Naxal” links.
For a long time now, there have been attempts by the powers-that-be to frame activists of the KKM as “Maoists” – this cultural group, which is well-known across Maharashtra for singing and performing against casteist violence, atrocities on Dalits and embedded oppressive caste hierarchies in our society, has been repeatedly hounded by police and the state machinery without a shred of evidence. Several members of the KKM have been booked under the draconian UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act), and the sheer injustice of these patently false charges was recently highlighted once more when the Bombay High Court granted bail to some KKM members. This is what Justice Thipsay of the Bombay High Court had to say in his judgment: “It is surprising that highlighting the wrongs prevalent in the society and insisting that there is a need to change the situation was considered as evidence and used to convince the court of them being members of the Communist Party of India (Maoist).”
Despite all this, the targeting of the KKM and of all those who stand by their protests, their music and their right to express dissent continues, as the recent attacks FTII students in Pune showcase only too well. This attack in Pune is just the latest shameful assault by communal, fascist, right-wing lumpens – the latest in the long line of brutal attacks, which include for instance the murder of the rationalist Dr. Dabholkar, the vandalism of the Oriental Institute in Pune and the subsequent destruction of several precious manuscripts, and the hooliganism in the Arts Faculty in Delhi University against the introduction of Ramanujan’s famed and well-acclaimed academic work ‘100 Ramayanas’. Time and again, we have seen that this lumpen brigade springs into action against any progressive voice which resists their ideas and dangerous worldview. This practice of indulging in violence, hooliganism and lumpenism has after all always been thestaple diet of the ABVP and their ideological brethren in the RSS and the VHP.
Let us also not forget that the very same forces which assaulted the FTII students and the KKM activists in Pune are the ones who routinely defend the oppressive casteist hierarchy in the name of ‘cultural nationalism’; they are the ones who are defending Asaram Bapu accused of raping a minor girl in his ashram; they are the ones who spread a vicious calumny and threat campaign against those like Dr. Dabholkar who spoke out against superstition and exploitative religious practices. They are also the ones who indulge in moral policing of women – we have seen them in action threatening young couples on Valentine’s Day, we have seen them abusing and assaulting women in pubs and accusing them of being ‘immoral’, we have seen them time and again blaming victims of rape and justifying sexual violence.
AISA stands by the students of FTII who are protesting against ABVP’s hooliganism, and also by the KKM in the protracted struggle against repression and witch-hunting. In these times when fascist forces are trying their best to destroy all democratic spaces of dissent, it is important for progressive forces to resist these attempts every inch of the way. We demand that the charges against the FTII students must be withdrown immediately. Also strong action must be initiated against the ABVP goons who indulged in violence.
Sandeep
AISA
09868033425
Letter of Support from NSD Student Union-
We, students at the National School of Drama, New Delhi, are irrevocably dismayed by the violent acts to which students from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune have been subjected recently.
There is great difficulty in the denial of freedom to the artist. The artist- student, student- artist is the primary, we daresay, the foremost instrument of the interaction between subjects of concern in our midst and those who lie affected by them. To snatch from the artist her will to express is to kill an active, living, breathing creature ruthlessly. This is no mark of the phenomenon that our Society and our lives are meant to be as it is no mark of an intelligently functioning body politic. The attack on the students from the Film and Television Institute of India, we venture to say, were heinous, in that they have ventured to perpetrate a deep- seated hegemonic notion of baseless moral policing, they have attempted to propagate fear preceding healthy, artistic expression, they create the soil for unreasonable aggression and condescending punishment.
In writing this we strongly condemn the nature of these and other such acts that have happened in the recent past. To shrink from responding to the cries of these students as the policeman present at the scene did, is not merely wrong but utterly shameful. We intend this also as a reminder of Article 19(1) of the Indian Constitution which places complete right to freedom and expression with every human being within the jurisdiction of the country.
We, students at the National School of Drama, New Delhi, are irrevocably dismayed by the violent acts to which students from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune have been subjected recently.
There is great difficulty in the denial of freedom to the artist. The artist- student, student- artist is the primary, we daresay, the foremost instrument of the interaction between subjects of concern in our midst and those who lie affected by them. To snatch from the artist her will to express is to kill an active, living, breathing creature ruthlessly. This is no mark of the phenomenon that our Society and our lives are meant to be as it is no mark of an intelligently functioning body politic. The attack on the students from the Film and Television Institute of India, we venture to say, were heinous, in that they have ventured to perpetrate a deep- seated hegemonic notion of baseless moral policing, they have attempted to propagate fear preceding healthy, artistic expression, they create the soil for unreasonable aggression and condescending punishment.
In writing this we strongly condemn the nature of these and other such acts that have happened in the recent past. To shrink from responding to the cries of these students as the policeman present at the scene did, is not merely wrong but utterly shameful. We intend this also as a reminder of Article 19(1) of the Indian Constitution which places complete right to freedom and expression with every human being within the jurisdiction of the country.
Students'
Association
Satyajit
Ray Film and Television Institute
EM Byepass
Road, P.O. Panchasayar, Kolkata - 700094
Subject:
Condemnation of the attack on FTII students by ABVP
We, the students of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI)
strongly condemn the attack on the four students of Film and Television
Institute of India (FTII) by Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad activists on
Tuesday outside the premises of NFAI, Pune. It is a blatant violation of human
rights.
We believe that FTII and SRFTI are democratic
spaces which encourage equality and freedom of speech and expression. These
institutions bring students from different strata of society together,
encouraging free and rational thinking. We, as students of cinema who aspire to
make a difference in society under no conditions will put up with fanaticism of
any nature. As responsible citizens we strongly believe that such injustice
should be terminated to make way for a better society built on equality on the
basis of religion , caste, class, gender etc. We respect the effort taken to
pay tribute to Mr. Narendra Dabholkar,
renowned rationalist activist by Mr. Patwardhan, NFAI, students of FTII
and Kabir Kala Manch (KKM). An organisation like KKM which works as a voice of
Dalits being called 'Naxals' and enemies of the state is unacceptable. No
person or organisation has the authority or power to attack an art form of such
sincerity.
At this juncture we express our solidarity with our fellow film
students in FTII and express our deep admiration for their courage and
perseverance for justice. In the present scenario where religious
fundamentalists are finding their way into central institutions of learning we
demand that the state take immediate action against the perpetrators of this
well planned attack.
Students' Association
SRFTI
SRFTI
Niranjan Kumar Kujur +91 9836021482
Lalitha Prasad Kalluri +91 8981273154
PRESS RELEASE from GraFTII
We at GraFTII, the alumnus association of the Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), express our concern at the increasing manifestations of intolerance in our country. An immediate example is the brutal attack on students of the FTII in Pune on the evening of 21st August, after a film screening held in tribute to Dr Narendra Dabholkar, assassinated the previous morning.
Intimidating tactics such as beatings and murders not only strike at the roots of our democracy but get encoded as threats in the minds of all. Fear places constraints on what might be said, written, read, shared, created, shown or even funded. Creativity can only thrive if there is no fear in the minds of those who work in the arts, sciences, social studies and all other spheres of human endeavour.
Such acts of violence should be condemned by all who value India's cultural diversity and see the diminishing freedom of expression as a sign of worse things to come. We assert that we will not be intimidated by such tactics. Those guilty of such acts should be brought to justice and the charges made against the FTII students be dropped immediately.
On Monday, 26th August, the students of FTII have called for a Solidarity March in Pune, starting at 4pm from FTII Campus on Law College Road to Omkareshwar Chowk. This march is a protest against the assassination of Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, the attack on FTII students and all other acts of intimidation and violence.
GraFTII unequivocally supports this call and urges all who value freedom of expression to show their concern by joining the peaceful march which will have songs, plays and appeals from students. And also, by holding peaceful solidarity demonstrations condemning such acts of violence across the country.
24th August, 2013
GraFTII, the alumnus association of the Film & Television Institute of India
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