FTII students call off hunger strike

By NewsGram Staff Writer

Pune: The students of FTII on Sunday decided to end their hunger strike after the Information and Broadcasting Ministry agreed to have a talk with them on September 29. However this would not mark the end of their strike.

"We are calling off the hunger strike since the government is willing to talk on September 29. But the strike remains until a positive result comes from their end," students' president Harishankar Nachimuthu and core committee member Ranjit Nair confirmed.

Over 250 students of the Film and Television Institute of India had been on a strike for over 100 days against the appointment of actor and Bharatiya Janata Party member Gajendra Chauhan as the chairman. The students find the credentials of the actor, best known for essaying 'Yudhisthir' in B.R. Chopra's "Mahabharat", questionable.

FTII, the country's premier film institute which was established in 1960, has produced the likes of Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Jahnu Barua, Shabana Azmi and Om Puri.

(With inputs from IANS)