Rahul Gandhi slams Modi govt over arrest of FTII students

New Delhi, Aug 19: Rahul Gandhi today slammed government over the arrest of protesting FTII students, telling Prime Minister Narendra Modi that they are not criminals who needed to be caught in a midnight crackdown.

"Protesting #FTII students arrested in #midnightcrackdown.Our students are not criminals Modiji. Silence. Suspend. Arrest: ModiMantra for AcheDin", the Congress Vice President said in a tweet. Gandhi had visited the FTII in Pune in July to express solidarity with the protesting students demanding removal of Gajendra Chauhan as chairman.

The Congress Vice President's reference to "silence" was apparently to the Prime Minister's silence on the opposition demand for resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in the wake of the Lalit Modi controversy and that of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan over the Vyapam scam.

The reference to "suspend" related to the suspension of 25 Congress member of Lok Sabha in the recently concluded Monsoon session of Parliament for repeatedly disrupting proceedings while seeking action in the Lalit Modi case and Vyapam scam.

In a midnight swoop, police arrested five students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune, charging them with rioting and other offences in connection with the gherao of director Prashant Pathrabe.

The students on strike for the last 69 days against appointment of BJP member and TV actor Gajendra Chauhan as the institute chairman, had gheraoed Pathrabe on Monday evening, challenging his decision to go ahead with the assessment of the incomplete diploma film projects of the 2008 batch.

PTI