Prominent film actor Fahadh Faasil has expressed his support for the students of the KR Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts who have been protesting against alleged caste discrimination at the institute. “I am with the students. Everyone has started to actively discuss (the problem) and a solution has started taking form. The director has resigned. Let it all settle and let the students be able to continue their studies,” Fahadh said while answering questions at a press meet that was held for the promotion of the film Thangam that he has produced.
Two days ago, the director of the institute Shankar Mohan resigned, saying that he had completed three years in the post. Students have been protesting for nearly seven weeks over alleged instances of caste discrimination by Shankar Mohan. However, his resignation was only one of the demands raised by the students. They stated that the strike will end once all their other demands are also met.
The students had also expressed their disappointment at the way that the issue was handled by Adoor Gopalakrishnan, veteran filmmaker who is the chairman of the institute. Adoor was defensive of Shankar Mohan and critical of the women employees of the institute who spoke out against casteism.
The protest gained prominence when the students took it to the venue of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) in December and several noted directors joined their cause. Filmmakers like Aashiq Abu, Jeo Baby, Mahesh Narayanan and Kamal spoke up for the students. Actor Sajitha Madathil also expressed her support. However, most of the actors from the industry had remained silent on the issue.
Raising this, a reporter asked Fahadh about his stand. He was attending the press meet along with actor Vineeth Sreenivasan, who plays the lead in Thangam. Fahadh is one of the first mainstream actors to talk about the issue.
Watch: Shankar Mohan resigns after 47 days of students' protest