SRFTI stalemate continues, students on relay hunger strike

The face-off between the management and students of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) here continued for the 12 day today, with both sides refusing to abandon their respective positions.
The students are on relay hunger strike since Saturday night demanding unconditional revocation of the expulsion order of 14 girl students from the institute over their refusal to shift to the newly built girls' hostel from a common accomodation which also had boys.
SRFTI director Debamitra Mitra told PTI that the institute has arranged for medical check up of the students who are on hunger strike.
"We have not shown any vindictive attitude and arranged for their medical check up," she said, adding that talks are still on with the agitating students to find a way out.

"I hope some solution will be found by tomorrow," she said.
The institute has been in the news since October 17, after protests against the girl students' expulsion rocked the campus.

One of the expelled students, Rupkatha Purakayastha, said yesterday that the SRFTI management, which had earlier agreed to reconsider the expulsion order and hold talks with the students, had put forward conditions.
The institute management said that the expelled students must submit a written undertaking that they would not launch any such agitation in the future.
"We consider this an attempt to throttle the voice of our democratic protest and hence had to resort to the relay hunger strike. We may go for an indefinite hunger strike, if the authorities are unrelenting," she said.

Mitra, who was gheraoed by the agitating students on Friday night, maintained that it was not possible to accept the demand for an unconditional revocation of the expulsion of the 14 students, who refused to shift to the new hostel.
The students alleged that building a separate hostel for girls was an act of moral policing, a charge rejected by the director.
Mitra argued that the authorities had decided to build a separate hostel for girls and upgrade the curriculum, and infrastructure of the institute after securing the approval of the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry in 2013.
She had said the objective behind shifting the girls to the new hostel was to ensure their safety.