SRFTI students protest at IDSFFK venue over alleged campus attack
SRFTI students protested at the IDSFFK venue in Thiruvananthapuram after alleging an attack on campus during an ABGP event.
Present and former students of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) staged a protest outside the Kairali theatre complex on Sunday, the venue of the ongoing 18th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Keralam, over an alleged attack on students at the institute's campus earlier in the day.
In a statement, the SRFTI Students Union said the trouble began when students questioned the institute's decision to permit an event by the Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat (ABGP) on campus without informing the student community. According to the union, ABGP members at the venue confronted the students and tried to remove them from the theatre, and the situation escalated into physical violence against students.
Protesters alleged that the group, which they said has links to the Sangh Parivar, verbally abused students and called them "anti-national" and "cockroaches". Students displayed and circulated videos of the alleged attack.
Filmmakers and delegates at the festival joined the protest in solidarity.