MUMBAI (Web Desk) – 12 Indian filmmakers have returned their National Awards over the unresolved FTII issue and the “rising intolerance” in the country.
Expressing solidarity with the FTII students who ended their 139 day strike on Wednesday, the filmmakers, in a joint statement, said that they see the ‘government’s stonewalling of the FTII students’ protest’ within a larger context of appointments of ‘people with narrow visions’ in other institutions such as the Children’s Film Society and Central Board of Film certification.
Read more: Top Indian scientist returns national award
The filmmakers who have decided to return their National Awards are Dibakar Banerjee, Anand Patwardhan, Paresh Kamdar, Nishtha Jain, Kirti Nakhwa, Harshavardhan Kulkarni, Hari Nair, Rakesh Sharma, Indraneel Lahiri and Lipika Singh Darai.
Earlier, in Pune, two FTII alumni, Pratik Vatsa and Vikrant Pawar, made a similar announcement.
They also said, “We stand firmly with the students of FTII and are determined to not let them shoulder the entire burden of their protests. They have mounted a historic struggle and we urge others within our fraternity to come forward.”
Read more: Kashmiri writer returns Sahitya Akademi award over threats to minorities in India
“I am more afraid today than I was during the emergency because now there are roving gangs looking to do violence against anyone who speaks out. If you don’t believe in armed struggle, then what do you do? This is what we have. We want to be a part of the awakening that is happening around the country, like the scientists and artists and writers returning their awards,” said eminent documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan yesterday while returning his National Award along with 9 others.
The students, too, said they would return to classes but “continue to protest and resist the current appointments in whatever peaceful and non-violent form we are able to”.
Students had gone on an indefinite strike on June 12 following the appointment of television actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan as president of the FTII Society and chairman of its Governing Council, the Hindu reported.
They also expressed discontent over four other “political” appointees who, they alleged, lacked the artistic and cinematic expertise to secure a place in the FTII Society.
Citing the lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq and the murders of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and M M Kaburgi, the group voiced concern over the rising intolerance in the country.
Read more: Another Muslim man lynched by Indian mob for ‘cow smuggling’
“People are being murdered for their beliefs and opinions. There has been no official condemnation of these groups (by the government) and we question this silence.”
Speaking at the press conference, Nishtha Jain, whose documentary Gulabi Gang was judged the best film on social issues at the 61st National Awards in 2014, said, “With much sadness I give up my only national award.
“It has meant a lot to me as it helped to gain recognition for my film Gulabi Gang and the issues it raised about gender discrimination in our country. But today this award has become a daily reminder of the the gap between the way the state looks at us as filmmakers and how they treat us as citizens who dare to dissent.”
Dibakar Banerjee added, “This is not politically motivated. It is motivated by my conscience. I am not here out of anger or outrage. Those emotions have been exhausted. I am here to draw attention. Returning my national award for Khosla Ka Ghosla is not easy. It was my first film, and for many, my most loved. I am here to draw attention of the people.”
He went on to add, the FTII students are asking for the right shikshparampara. They are not asking for money or more equipment or less exams or quotas or privileges. Why should they suffer months of indecision, stress and harassment to go through this?”
The filmmakers join a growing cohort of intellectuals expressing concern over the rise of intolerance in the country. The first were writers who began returning their Sahitya Akademi Awards in early September following the cold blooded execution, at his home, of 77 year old rationalist, scholar and Kannada writer, M M Kalburgi.
Read more: Former VC of Indian university shot dead ‘by Hindu extremists’
Himself a Sahitya Akademi award winner, Dr Kalburgi’s murder formed a pattern of killings; those of Govind Pansare in February 2015 and that of Narendra Dabholkar in August 2014.
Common to all of these murders, apart from their premeditated nature, was the fact that all three victims were noted rationalists and scholars, who had attracted the ire of right wing Hindu groups. The writers began returning their awards in protest of the Akademi’s silence in the face of these killings.
The FTII strike began on June 11, following the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan, as the Chairperson of the institute, and four others nominations made to the eight member FTII society, that has much say in the running of the institute.
The appointments surprised many in the film fraternity since the people selected to head the premier film institute are virtual unknowns in the film fraternity. Common however to all the appointments are right wing political affiliations. The students have since questioned the process by which these appointments were made and demanded that all future processes be made transparent. The strike lasted a total of 139 days ending on Wednesday despite no resolution to the crisis.
The filmmakers include:
Dibakar Banejee: Khosla Ka Ghosla (2007); Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye (2009)
Anand Patwardhan: Bombay Our City (1984)
Paresh Kamdar: Rasyatra (1995)
Nishtha Jain: Gulaabi Gang (2014)
Kirti Nakhwa: Lost & Found (2008)
Harshavardhan Kulkarni: Lost & Found (2008)
Hari Nair: Sham’s Vision (1997)
Rakesh Sharma: Final Solution (2006)
Indraneel Lahiri: Aamar Katha, Story of Binodhini (2014)
Lipika Singh Darai: Gaarud (2009); Eka Gachha Eka Mainsha Eka Samudra (a tree a man a sea) (2012); Kankee O Saapo (dragonfly and snake) (2013)
