Keep Gajendra Chauhan away from syllabus panel: Govt's compromise formula for FTII standoff?

Even as a faculty member of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) went on a hunger strike on Sunday, a report has said that the government may be willing to opt for a compromise over the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the head of the institute. [caption id=“attachment_2423616” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Gajendra Chauhan. Ibnlive image[/caption] The Hindustan Times reports that filmmaker Raju Hirani could replace Chauhan as the head of a council that decides the syllabus and looks after academics. Students who have been on strike for 87 days now, have demanded the cancellation of Chauhan’s appointment as FTII chairman claiming that he lacks “credentials and vision” to head the prestigious institution which is expected to give a direction to the Indian cinema. Sources told The Hindustan Times that while the government was ready to keep Chauhan away from academic affairs, he could continue as chairperson of the institute’s governing council. The protests at FTII have received support from various quarters like former alumni, Bollywood personalities and politicians including Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi. While Chauhan was said to have been appointed as FTII chief because of his links to the BJP and RSS, the government has refuted these allegations. They have in turn blamed the Congress for having politicised the issue. But this isn’t the first time that the government has been said to be looking for an ‘honourable exit’ from the situation that is prevailing in FTII. An _Indian Express_ report  had quoted an unnamed official from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry as saying, “Some solution has to be arrived at without it appearing to be a climbdown for the government.” The government has been looking for a solution especially after the arrest of five students from the institute in a midnight crackdown on 19 August. The government was harshly criticised after which a three-member, set up by it, visited FTII to understand the sequence of events that led to the arrest the students. Newly-appointed FTII director Prashant Pathrabe had accused  students of torture and illegal confinement on Monday night, which led to him filing an FIR against them.