Striking FTII students today called for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in resolving the 71-day-old crisis in the premier institute over the appointment of TV actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan as its chairman.


"Prime Minister should visit FTII to resolve the issues. All students in the country are feeling threatened by the government's insensitivity towards the problems being faced by them. The students should strike hard and strong if this continues", representative of the FTII Students' Association (FSA) Vikas Urs said.


Five students, including Urs, were arrested on charges of rioting after the institute's director Prashant Pathrabe was was confined to his chamber, following which the government formed a team of senior I&B department officials to resolve the impasse.


The students were released on bail by a Pune court yesterday. A striking student said, "We are very curious to see with what agenda they (the officials) are coming with. We are clueless. The students' body has not been told that the delegation is coming...We are hearing everything from the media. We are still expecting a good dialogue."