Students want better security post bomb scare at FTII

On Saturday, the incident at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), where a live detonator and a yellow substance, usually packed in explosives, were found in a parcel sent to the director's office with a letter, has raised security questions on campus again. While many are shaken by the parcel that came via government postal service, students (present and aspiring) want the premier film institute to be a safer campus to study.
We are concerned about our safety
On Monday morning, in between workshops and readying sets for projects, students were seen discussing a parcel, addressed to the former director Prashant Pathrabe.A typed letter, that came in the parcel, read, 'You are supporting Kanhaiya Kumar, who is an anti-national. He's also speaking against the Indian Army. You should not support him and not allow him to conduct any programmes'. Devas Dixit, an acting student, said, "I was told by my friends who stay in the new hostel that they saw cops stationed outside the gate and came to know about the parcel. My parents were quite worried when they saw the news on television. I had to assure them that we are safe on campus. However, the security system on campus needs to be beefed up on an urgent basis. Many unwanted people walk in freely without being checked or inquired about."
Not only have the present students expressed their issues about safety on campus, several aspiring students, who are a part of the orientation programme, are also alarmed by the incident. Umar Farukh from Bhopal, who is a part of the screenplay orientation, shared, "We are aware of the bomb scare that happened on Saturday. But, I am still looking forward to my admission to the institute, since it has been my dream to study here." Though aspirants have been up-to-date with the 139-day long strike, they want a safer environment to study. Chandan Roy, an aspiring student from Patna, who is in the city for the orientation programme, shared, "We have been following the FTII strike against few appointments and also came to know about the parcel. But, we want a safe space to pursue our education in films." The admission process will be completed in June and the new session is expected to commence by July.
Loopholes in security?
A lack of proper security system on campus has been an issue for quite some time. A second year direction student, shared, "In the past few months many people have been roaming around campus. As a student, and as a woman, I don't feel safe to go out of the institute without a male friend." Also, there is no metal detector or proper enquiries by internal security personnels who are deployed on campus, allege students. "Having a bomb scare in an institute is quite alarming. There has been a security issue in the past, but such a parcel has never come to the campus before. Security on campus should be tightened," shared Harishankar Nachimuthu, the president of the FTII Students' Association. Nachimuthu was scheduled to meet the newly-appointed director, Bhupendra Kainthola, on Monday, to discuss security issues. Till the time of going to press, no enquires were made with Nachimuthu from the police authorities.
Kanhaiya wasn't supposed to visit ftii
It is also interesting to know that the JNU Students' Union president, Kanhaiya Kumar, wasn't invited by the students of FTII, when he was visiting Pune. Nachimuthu, told us earlier, "I don't think anyone from the students have invited Kanhaiya to campus without my knowledge (since I am the president). Though there is a strong buzz of Kanhaiya's visit to the city, FTII has nothing to do with it. We haven't sent him an invite." Students were open to Kanhaiya's visit, only as the JNUSU president, and not as an affiliation of a political party. Vikas Urs, a student representative, had told, "Kanhaiya is welcome to the campus as a part of JNU and not as a part of any political party. We don't want to get involved in this any further, as we have suffered a lot during our strike."
Incidents in the past
Threats, allege students, have not been new on campus. During the strike, students have received several threat letters and calls. Entrance of the institute was vandalised while on strike. On its 38th day of the strike, a few men on bikes had allegedly vandalised the structures erected as marks of protest. In other individual incidents, Nachimuthu and Vikas Urs, a student representative, had been harassed with threat calls.