Payal Kapadia is backing the SRFTI protesters.
She insisted she was horrified by the campus violence unleashed by the RSS goons that hijacked the institute on September 27.
She was among the signatories of an open letter by scores of filmmakers who condemned the attack.
Payal Kapadia Rallying Behind SRFTI Protesters Amid Campus Violence
Kapadia called out the SRFTI administration's failure in ensuring action against the goons and targeting of students
Summary
Acclaimed director Payal Kapadia has voiced her strong backing for the agitating students at the Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, expressing profound horror that the administration has targeted the victims with disciplinary measures instead of taking due action against the RSS-affiliated goons who broke into the institute and attacked students on September 27.
In a video message shared on Instagram, she insisted, “I am absolutely horrified at the situation taking place at the Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, Kolkata. On the 27th of September, the goons who are affiliated with the RSS had entered the campus and brutally beat up the students. Even groped some of the female students. And no action has been taken against these goons.”
She said: “Instead, students are facing rustication for questioning the administration as to how they allowed this to happen in the first place. Since that day, no classes have taken place. Recently, students have been served a notice to vacate the hostel and leave the campus.”
Characterising the unfolding situation as deeply alarming, Kapadia claimed that the physical security of the students is currently in jeopardy. Taking to the SRFTI students' union Instagram page, she exhorted the authorities to carry out strict disciplinary measures against the instigators of the violence instead of victimising the students.
In response to these incidents, the student body has been abstaining from academic lectures since September 28, following an initial assault allegedly carried out by affiliates of the Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat. Tensions escalated further when students faced a subsequent attack on October 4, allegedly perpetrated by members of the Hindu Jagran Manch.
The primary attack happened on September 27. Two days later, Kapadia was among 90 Indian filmmakers and artists, that included writer-director Varun Grover, Q (Quashiq Mukherjee), Tanuja Chandra, and Rahi Anil Barve, who issued a joint statement condemning the incident.
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Payal Kapadia's debut fiction feature, All We Imagine as Light, won the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in May 2024. It garnered BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations.
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