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Goa church defies government, backs agitating students

Goa Archdiocese holds film festival for students protesting political interference
Goa church defies government, backs agitating students
Published: November 27, 2015 07:27 AM GMT
Updated: November 26, 2015 08:18 PM GMT

Goa Archdiocese has backed students struggling against political appointments in India's premier film school by organizing a parallel film festival during the ongoing International Film Festival of India.

Film and Television Institute of India students began their own festival, titled "Retracing Freedom," on Nov. 24, four days after the international festival began in Panaji, the state capital of Goa.

The students' festival at the church-run Nossa Senhora de Piedade Institute was a response to their films being dropped at the international event and them barred from entering the venue.

There was heavy police presence at the Nossa Senhora de Piedade Institute and church officials were issued a notice to explain the legality of such a festival.

"We have had such screenings in the past and nobody had asked us. The behavior of the authorities now to question us is really strange," said Father Maverick Fernandes, director of the Council for Social Justice and Peace.

"When I questioned the police over their large presence at the gate, one police officer said that they were instructed to be present at the venue," the priest.

"The festival is a step towards reclaiming our freedom of thought and artistic expression that is under relentless attack," said Kislay, a student.

Pratik Vats, a former student and supporter of the church-backed film festival, told media that even students distributing pamphlets were "arrested … as if indulging in some criminal activity."

Since the 10-day international festival began Nov. 20, three students were arrested.

"God help a country which has silenced its students," said film director Sayeed Mizra.

Students of the 55-year-old autonomous institute under the Indian government’s ministry of information and broadcasting have been agitating since June, primarily over the appointment of Gajendra Chouhan as its chairman.

They accuse the ruling pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party of choosing Chouhan and other members of the governing body by flouting rules to accommodate the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (national volunteer corps).

The party is widely seen as the political wing of such groups, which right activists say are working to turn India into a Hindu theocratic nation.

Both Goa state and the federal government are ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The International Film Festival of India has its theme rooted in the Indian notion of nonviolence and peaceful coexistence.

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