Clash at Kolkata Film Institute Leaves Dozens Injured Following Event Dispute

A clash at Kolkata’s Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute left students and faculty injured after students challenged an event organized by the RSS-linked Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat (ABGP), saying they had not been informed. Students and the institute alleged ABGP members assaulted protesters, including women, and chased students across campus; ABGP representatives said students disrupted the permitted event and tore down banners. Police were deployed as tensions continued, and reports put the number injured at about 30 students and two faculty members, though accounts varied. Alumni, filmmakers and festival delegates expressed solidarity with the students, including at a film festival in Kerala.
ABGP said it had obtained permission to use SRFTI’s main auditorium and paid Rs 15,000 for the venue; it described the event as related to consumer awareness and organisational activities.
The reported injuries included specific cases: editing student Duttatreya Dey suffered nose and facial injuries and a forehead laceration, while another student fainted after being struck by a stone. Twenty-five students were taken to Desun Hospital; two were admitted and the rest received first aid and were discharged.
A former student said a group briefly surrounded an ambulance carrying five injured students to hospital. Separately, the students’ union alleged that students who had taken shelter in the library were pursued there and that the librarian was assaulted.
Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap shared the SRFTI Students’ Union statement on Instagram and commented, “This is what they stole the votes for in Bengal. This and so much more,” linking the incident to political allegations about ‘vote chori.’
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