Amid dramatic scenes and vociferous protests by students, TV actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan took charge as the Chairman of FTII on Thursday, seven months after his appointment, even as the police resorted to lathi-charge and detained nearly 40 protesters.
However, in what could be a compromise formula to resolve the row over Chauhan’s controversial appointment that led students to go on an unprecedented 139-day strike, the FTII society chose producer-director BP Singh as its Vice President and the Chairman of Academic Council. The students, who are demanding Chauhan’s removal, called off their strike on October 28.
A senior Information and Broadcasting ministry official said that during negotiations, student representatives had at times questioned Chauhan’s credentials related to academic curriculum and they believed that with Singh heading the Academic Council, such issues won’t arise.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)