The unprecedented saffron drive has reached its epoch. The BJP is in its shameful best in trying to penetrate into each and every government institution and office of the country. The latest in this heinous drive is the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan over an eminent personality like Shyam Benegal as the head of the FTII. Gajendra Chauhan, Known for his role of Duryodhan in the acclaimed TV serial “Mahabharat” of the yesteryears, had campaigned for the BJP during the elections and hence his gripping the post , even after being an unheard name in the intellectual film circle, became a cakewalk.
The sudden appointment was met with valiant protests by the students at FTII. Shouts of the incompetency of an actor, who has only acted in a few serials and very ordinary films to be the head of one of the most prestigious film institute of the country, reverberated within the campus of the FTII and beyond. That Gajendra Chauhan had even appeared in a soft porn film which can be viewed freely on YouTube added to the students’ justification of the protest against his appointment. Award winning documentary film maker, Anand Patwardhan, stood in solidarity with the FTII students saying that the only credential Chauhan had was his close link with the BJP. He echoed the students demands by saying that Chauhan had no vision for the institute, neither was he having any experience nor was he an alumni of the institute.
Moreover, Chauhan had been endorsing superstitious gems, so the whole credibility of the institution run by such a person will degrade in the eyes of the global viewers and followers of the college, which the students could not stand a silent spectator to. 4 of the 8 members of the governing council of the FTII have saffron backgrounds, either directly or indirectly. These include office bearer of the RSS run Sanskar Bharati and even the former Maharashtra president of the ABVP.
The government, in its reply to such an appointment said that it was necessary for the government to instil some nationalism into the students of the FTII. The students too replied with the same vigour stating that just because they were leftists and did not believe in the fascist ideology of the present government did not mean that they were anti nationals.
The FTII, a hub of free thinking and democratic customs, has been under the regular attack of ABVP activists. In 2012, a student was attacked with allegations that he was a Maoist. His only crime being that he had helped a Maoist group with a stage play. The government needs to understand that the type of masses they find in the FTII are cultural people and they lay no demarcation between the rich and the poor, their artistic mind allows them to be free from the shackles of saffron the present government is trying to bind the whole country with.
This comes as the third pin of the government in trying to saffronise the film institutes and boards of the country. First there was the appointment of Pankaj Nihalani in the CBFC followed by the appointment of Mukesh Khanna (who is also found endorsing Rudrakshas in the TV) as the head of the CFS and then Chauhan, all three have close ties to Modi and are known to be hardlined Hindutwa supporters. All these bring to light the unholy nexus between the BJP and the Hindutwa forces of the country trying to curb the democratic voices in the films. The appointments to these prestigious bodies are made vaguely on the basis of one’s personal ties with the PM and conformation to a particular religious ideology, which is a disturbing fact in a secular country like India.
