The Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute has contacted the parents of six rusticated students who allegedly refused to leave the campus after being ordered to vacate their hostels and premises. The institute said the students must comply with rustication orders issued on October 14 following allegations that they manhandled and heckled vice-chancellor Santosh Ajmera.
Emails sent by SRFTI’s tutorial section urged the parents and guardians to ensure that their wards complied with the orders and vacated their hostels. The institute said the six students had not left the campus even after being directed to do so.
“Since the six students declined to comply with the directions on their own, their parents have been notified,” an SRFTI official said.
The email sent to one parent stated that disciplinary action had been taken against the student and attached a copy of the rustication order for the parent’s information and records. Ajmera said the parents of all six students had been informed by email and that the institute’s proctor had also contacted them by phone.
“Continuing to occupy the premises despite the directions to vacate would amount to unauthorised occupation,” Ajmera told Metro. He said the administration remained committed to student welfare while ensuring compliance with institutional directions and the orderly functioning of the campus.
The institute had earlier directed all students to vacate the hostels after suspending academic activities until November 13. However, the six rusticated students were told to leave the campus immediately and were not permitted to return, according to the report.
The disciplinary action follows student protests linked to alleged attacks by RSS-linked organisations on September 27 and October 4. The students had been boycotting classes, saying the administration had failed to deliver justice over the alleged attacks.
One of the rusticated students described the order as unfair and denied that the group had heckled the vice-chancellor. The student said the protest had been peaceful and alleged that the rustication orders were based on “unsubstantiated charges”.
The competing accounts place the institute’s disciplinary process at the centre of an unresolved campus dispute. SRFTI has presented the students’ continued presence as non-compliance with institutional directions, while the students have linked their action to demands for accountability over the alleged attacks and challenged the basis of the disciplinary orders.
The immediate issue is whether the six students will vacate the campus and how the institute will proceed while academic activities remain suspended until November 13. SRFTI has not indicated in the supplied report whether the students will be allowed to appeal the rustication orders or whether any further disciplinary action will follow.
