42 days of SRFTI protest; classes suspended till December 11

KOLKATAThe agitation at the Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute (SRFTI) continued for 42 days as class suspension was extended till December 11, affecting academic life. Students of the film institute on Saturday (November 7, 2026) said that “This Diwali we choose to resist”, while authorities said they were “keen" to resume classes.“Diwali has always been a special occasion at SRFTI... But this year, the familiar celebrations are overshadowed by fear, uncertainty and an ongoing struggle for justice,” an official post by the SRFTI student union said on Saturday (November 7, 2026), a day before Deepavali. They also said that the day they are served justice will be Deepavali for them.“While the faculty and administration are ready to resume classes, a section of students continues to remain disengaged from academics and disrupt the functioning of the Institute through repeated violations of its rules and orders,” Registrar Deepak Kumar told The Hindu on Saturday (November 7, 2026). He further added that they are asking students to come forward for constructive dialogue.As of November 7, at least 25 students have received show cause notices, with 11 of them receiving them last Thursday (November 5, 2026). Six students have faced rustication, and one FIR has been registered against student union Vice-President Shubham. Shubham is one of the six students who got the rustication notice for allegedly vandalising the Vice-Chancellor Santosh Ajmeera’s office and manhandling him. However, all of these allegations have been denied by the students.According to the students, two contractual faculty members, and five resource persons of SRFTI have also been terminated from their jobs for showing solidarity with the students.As the classes remained suspended, the hostels and mess were also closed for students. Many students have been living under a makeshift tent during the protest, as many of them are from States outside West Bengal.The impasse at the campus started on September 27 after violence broke out on the film institute’s campus as a right-wing RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat (ABGP) held an event on the campus and clashed with students. Several students were left injured in the clashes.Since then, students have demanded accountability from the authorities for failing to protect them inside their own campus. However, six of them were served a rustication notice two weeks later, on October 15, for manhandling the VC. The students are also demanding the VC’s resignation for failing to take action against the violence, which left many students injured. Meanwhile, the VC has said in his official statement that authorities have addressed students‘ safety concerns and have taken necessary action and that they have taken disciplinary action against students due to “defacement of premises, provocative writings, intimidation of officials,” and more. Published - November 08, 2026 03:56 am IST