Naseeruddin Shah backs SRFTI students’ protest: BJP trying to frighten future filmmakers

Mumbai: Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah extended his support to students of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute who are currently staging an indefinite sit-in after a violent incident on campus recently.

Naseeruddin claimed that the BJP wishes to take revenge on all who do not subscribe to its beliefs and policies, and SRFTI students are the latest targets.

On Saturday, the veteran actor dropped a video on his official handle saying, “Namaskar, adab, I’m Naseeruddin Shah. The BJP, the bloody jhooti party, after its manipulative victory in the Bengal elections, now seems all out for revenge on anyone who does not subscribe to their beliefs and their policies. The latest victims of this vendetta are the students, the aspiring filmmakers of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute. In return for their demand for accountability from the administration, they have been served show cause notices, put under surveillance, threatened and now have even been asked to vacate the hostels."

Naseeruddin added that BJP wants not just to back and encourage the shameless propaganda in its favour, and it is now hoping either to brainwash or frighten the future filmmakers of this country.

"I can promise you that is not going to happen. These are the young people who in the future will tell us the truth about themselves and about our country and about the state we are in,” he assured.

“I urge all right-minded citizens to support the demands of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute students,” the actor said before ending the clip.

For the unversed, SRFTI students have been staging an indefinite sit-in outside Vice-Chancellor Santosh Ajmera’s office since October 12, demanding his resignation.

Students and members of the Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat (ABGP), an RSS-affiliated consumer awareness group, got into a clash during a programme on September 27.

On October 4, another tussle took place as a protest was organised by the members of the Bangiya Hindu Jagaran Mancha. According to reports, a few protesters attempted to force open the gate of the institute after police stopped them.

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