Right-wing activists entered the campus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune on Tuesday and allegedly assaulted students over a banner condemning the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid, police said.
President of the FTII Students Association (FSA) Mankap Nokwoham was among those who were attacked, the association claimed.
The banner with the words “Remember Babri, Death of Constitution” had been put up by the FSA on the campus on Monday, said deputy commissioner of police Sandip Gill.
The incident at the country’s premier film institute took place a day after the grand consecration ceremony of the Ram Lalla idol took place in Ayodhya.
According to police, some 12 to 15 unidentified persons allegedly barged into the campus by overpowering security personnel around noon on Tuesday, assaulted students while shouting slogans, and tore up the banner, and burnt it.
“A First Information Report was registered against unidentified persons at Deccan police station under Indian Penal Code sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 427 (mischief causing damage), and other relevant provisions,” Vipin Hasabnis, senior police inspector, Deccan police station, said.
The FTII Students Association, in a release, said they strongly stand against this attack on “democratic rights as well as the lives of students.”
“Innocent students were grievously attacked by these goons who barged into our campus while the security and staff were being mere spectators,” the FSA alleged, adding that the mob of 20 to 25 people started shouting ‘Jai Shree Ram’, hurled abuse at students, and attacked four students including association president Mankap Nokwoham and general secretary Sayantan who suffered injuries.
