Students tortured me: FTII director

But before midnight arrests, Pathrabe said he was not mistreated

FTII, FTII row, FTII controversy, Prashant Pathrabe, FTII crackdown, FTII students, Gajendra Chauhan, FTII students, FTII Pune

FTII director Prashant Pathrabe holding the press conference in Pune (Photo: Atikh Rasheed)

Defending his decision to file a police complaint that led to the arrest of five students, FTII Director Prashant Pathrabe on Wednesday accused them of “torturing” him after confining him for hours in his office on Tuesday night. All the five students were released on bail Wednesday.

“I was illegally confined for 8-10 hours on Tuesday night by the protesting students. They formed chains to forcefully block me. They tortured me by using interrogation techniques, verbal assault, including asking same questions, and continuously threatened me to take the decision back,” he said.

Read: Students are not criminals, says Shyam Benegal

But on Tuesday night, Pathrabe was caught on video by The Indian Express as saying that his only complaint against the students was that they had forced him to remain in office. The video, uploaded on www.indianexpress.com, shows Pathrabe sitting in his office corridor after he was “freed” by the police. The video was shot by The Indian Express reporter present at the venue at 10.55 pm on Tuesday.

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READ: Parents of FTII students seek PM Modi intervention to end impasse

The video begins with a student, Vikas Urs, informing the police that the students had a peaceful dialogue with Pathrabe and had even shared tea and snacks in his cabin. Urs then asks Pathrabe to describe to the police the environment in which the discussion was held.
“Very normal,” replies Pathrabe.

“Sir, were the students, at any time, violent with you?” ask the students. Pathrabe replies in the negative. “Did they say anything that would humiliate you or were they abusive?” they ask. “No,” he replies.

READ: Film industry reacts to the arrest of FTII students

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“Did we mistreat you?” they ask. “No, but you stopped me from leaving,” replies Pathrabe. The students say they accept this fact. When asked about his contrary statement today, Pathrabe said he was under pressure last night.

At his press conference Wednesday, the FTII director said the students indulged in disrespectful and insulting behavior. “The students commented that if I cannot answer their questions or take back the decision of undertaking assessment of projects of 2008 batch, then I was inefficient. The entire incident seemed to be pre-planned. They wanted to enact a drama in front of the police and media to show the director and institute in poor light. I refused to call the police initially, but after three-four hours, when they didn’t give in, I had to call the police,” he said.

“I had no choice but to take this step (file an FIR) as tolerating this kind of lawless behavior would have emboldened them. I am still in a state of mental shock and it will take me a couple of days to come back to normal,” said Pathrabe.

“I had complained against 50 students and gave 15 names which I could remember. The police told me they would take the due course of action… can’t explain why the police arrested students at midnight.,” said Pathrabe. He denied any pressure from the government to take action against the students, but said he had kept senior I&B Ministry officers in the loop.

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Pathrabe said the faculty agreed with his decision to assess projects of 2008 batch. “The assessment decision has now been kept on hold,” he said, adding that the ministry had deputed a three-member team to look into all the issues.

The FTII administration has increased campus security, roping in bouncers for the director and registrar.

Meanwhile, the FTII teachers association condemned the police action on the students.

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