This is a letter i sent to the ministry of I&B, SRFTI (Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute) some time ago.
Hello,
I am kunjila mascillamani and an alumnus. Kindly google me before asking me more questions about who i am, after 8 years of injustice from the part of SRFTI. I hope you are aware that the name on records of sexual harassment complainants cannot be made public in the country and even if it could, you do not have my permission to do so with me. I was one of the complainants in the cases mentioned in the subject line. I have copied the other two complainants as well. Recently, we got to know from a lawyer we appointed for ourselves through an NGO in Calcutta - because SRFTI students and administration and even some of the professors were violent and hostile towards us complainants - that the honourable court has given a ruling pointing out procedural errors from the part of SRFTI, and in favour of the professors who sexually harassed us. The lawyer informed us that the court has asked for our complaints to be looked into, once again by the current ICC of SRFTI. We would like to ask the following questions to all at SRFTI and the Ministry of I&B.
0. Why was there a procedural error from the part of SRFTI in a case of such importance? Why were the GC members, the then Chairperson Partha Ghosh (also copied in this mail) not aware of this? If they were aware, given how hostile SRFTI and Partha Ghosh himself were to us, what evidence exists to prove the procedural error was not deliberate? Evidence regarding Partha Ghosh's bias and hostile behaviour towards me have been documented and reported.
1. Why did the institute not inform us complainants of this important development?
2. Who argued the case? Who were the lawyers, and how were they appointed - for SRFTI?
3. What was the argument of the said lawyers against the professors?
4. Is the institute going to challenge the court order?
4.5. If yes, are the same lawyers going to fight the case? If no, why?
5. Who gets to decide who the lawyers who fight for SRFTI would be, in court cases?
6. I got to know from my current admirer students in SRFTI that the current ICC is chaired by Oindrilla Hazra and that one Ms. Srijani Lahiri whom i know as Srijani Dey - surname change presumably after a wedlock - is a member of the ICC. Is this information correct? In that case, i would like to refresh the institute's memory on the history of both these individuals.
Srijani Dey, while being my batchmate had, along with other students like Modhura Palit, made malicious complains against me for calling out her HoD's sexual harassment and advances. I am adding a screenshot of one of the posts she made after ToI reported the matter. I have more where this came from. The complaints i made against Oindrilla Hazra might still be available in the SRFTI dusty archives - assuming nothing has been digitized, yet.
I have more videos on YouTube. Like this one. jaake suna dena apne behan ke laudi ko To refresh your memory, I also have images of how the ex- director, Debamitra Mitra and Syamal Sengupta shared the same address during the ICC enquiry. Wasn’t Partha Ghosh one of the two people who later appointed her as Director?
7. What is the status of the inquiry that was done upon my complaint against Debamitra Mitra’s conflict of interest in our case? Is there a report? Where is it? Is SRFTI waiting for me to file an RTI in the midst of my busy schedule to get this report, if it exists?
8. Would you have done this to ANY male student who passed out of your institute and is now a filmmaker with a film playing on SonyLiv, one whose film was part of Indian Panorama in IFFI and whose various SRFTI projects have won an obscene number of awards?
I have more questions that i shall keep for another letter.
If my language is coming off as rude and angry, it might be because i am both. I expect you not to tone police me, like you always did when i was a student there. I expect you to answer my questions. I demand answers. Oh! and justice too.
