Present and past students of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) staged a protest in front of the Kairali theatre complex, the venue of the ongoing 18th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Keralam, on Sunday in protest against the alleged attack on students at the SRFTI campus earlier in the day.

According to a statement from the SRFTI Students Union, the issues began when the students questioned the institute’s decision to allow an event by the Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat (ABGP) in the campus without informing the student community. The ABGP members present at the venue confronted the students and attempted to remove them from the theatre. The union alleged that the situation escalated into physical violence against students.

The protesters alleged that the group, which has links to the Sangh Parivar, had verbally abused the students and called them “anti-national” and “cockroaches”. The students displayed and circulated videos of the alleged attack. Filmmakers and delegates too joined the protest in solidarity.