Students of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) on Thursday alleged that the administration had denied them access to basic facilities, including the mess, gym and music room, to pressure them to end their indefinite sit-in protest on campus.
In a message issued on the occasion of Bijoya Dashami on Wednesday, the protesting students said the institute mess had remained closed since October 17, while access to the gym, music room and New CRT, where students watch films, had also been "restricted by the administration".
The students alleged that the "institute administration was resorting to measures that amounted to collective punishment by denying them access to basic facilities amid the ongoing agitation".
The protest, which had entered its 25th day, follows a series of violent incidents on campus that triggered a prolonged standoff between students and the institute administration.
In a notice issued on October 16, SRFTI suspended regular academic activities in its Film and Electronic and Digital Marketing (EDM) departments until November 13 and directed students to leave their hostels and vacate the premises within 24 hours.
The students refused to leave and continued their indefinite sit-in protest and academic boycott, demanding better campus security and accountability for the alleged violence.
The agitation began after clashes on September 27 during an event organised by the Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat (ABGP), which the students described as an RSS-linked organisation. They subsequently sought written assurances on campus security, action against those allegedly involved in the violence and an independent investigation into the incidents.
Tensions escalated further on October 4, when students alleged that stones, bricks and bottles were thrown towards the campus.
The protesters later intensified their agitation, demanding accountability, withdrawal of disciplinary notices issued to protesting students and the resignation of Vice-Chancellor Santosh Ajmera. They have also alleged that the administration's response has compounded their difficulties, particularly over accommodation and access to essential facilities.
The students have maintained that their agitation would continue until their concerns over safety, accountability and the administration's handling of the situation were addressed.
An SRFTI official, however, alleged that a section of the protesting students had overstayed in the hostel for years despite the expiry of their terms and were "the troublemakers and instigating and preventing junior students from attending academic session since September 28".
The official said six students were suspended on October 15 on disciplinary grounds over allegations ranging from attacks on faculty members and campus security personnel to writing obscene graffiti on campus walls.
Sudip Chakraborty, spokesperson for the SRFTI students' union, denied the allegations and said the students would take legal action in response to the charges.
He added that around 150 students, many of them from outside West Bengal, lived on the campus and in nearby areas, warning that "any revengeful action by the institute authorities will inconvenience them".
Chakraborty further alleged that the administration had prevented students participating in the sit-in from using a nearby washroom in the academic building, describing the move as a "basic denial of rights".
"This had never happened before even during Covid by closing down our facilities," he claimed.