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Chandigarh:
Celebrities descending on the Panjab University (PU) campus to
promote their films or shoot them may be to the liking of hundreds
of awestruck students, but it's making the faculty see red.
With some recent events drawing students from teaching departments
and some even bunking classes to see the stars, the teachers'
union has taken up the issue with the varsity authorities,
pointing out that all this is affecting the institution's academic
atmosphere.
The Panjab University Teachers Association (PUTA) has cautioned
the authorities to check the projection and promotion of
commercial movies and activities on the campus. PUTA has taken up
the matter with vice chancellor R.C. Sobti.
"The university has the provision of allowing production houses to
come and shoot their films on campus. However, if someone comes
for promotion of their movies without notice for purely commercial
purposes and disturbs the decorum of the departments nearby, it is
not good," PUTA president Akshay Kumar said.
"The association feels that showcasing of this kind of content in
an educational institution is detrimental to the academic
atmosphere," Kumar told IANS here.
In recent months, Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor and some Punjabi
film industry stars have descended on the campus for promoting or
shooting their films. Some came with the permission of PU
authorities while others brought their roadshow on the campus
without permission.
PUTA has now asked the vice chancellor to evolve a system which
can filter what is being showcased to the students.
"If Ranbir wants to promote his movie at the Students Centre, he
should ask for permission. We want the authorities to draw a line
as to what is to be shown. Some time back, a Punjabi movie, 'Anne
Kohre Da...', was shown in the Department of English. Any
documentary screening arranged in the Department of Indian Theatre
and School of Communication Studies is acceptable," Kumar said.
He said departments like Indian Theatre, where the curriculum
deals with the movies, could be shown films.
"Their students watch it with a critical eye to learn. But doing
an event at the Students' Centre is what we object to," he said.
The Students' Centre, Stu-C as it is popular among students, is an
area with eateries and recreation facilities which is frequented
by students from all teaching departments throughout the day.
The university's A.C. Joshi Library, which is next to the
Students' Centre, is most affected when a big event is held there
with mikes and even DJ music playing at full volume.
Librarian Raj Kumar told IANS: "Many times, when something is
happening at the Students' Centre involving high volume music
systems, groups of students have come up to me complaining about
the noise. They are unable to concentrate inside the library. But
there is hardly anything I can do."
He gave the example of the latest Lohri celebrations.
"On Jan 13, it was acceptable as almost everyone is involved but
some departments around the library celebrated it Jan 12 which
disturbed the students preparing for competitive examinations," he
pointed out.
Research scholar Amanjot Kaur from the Department of Biotechnology
said: "We have to ignore the fact that there is something
happening at the Students' Centre because we can't help it. It
disturbs us a lot because of the crowd."
Justifying the activities, however, PU's dean for students welfare
A.S. Ahluwalia said: "As far as the activities at the Students'
Centre are concerned, they have been granted permission.
"Without taking permission, nobody can do anything there. However,
we always tell them to keep the volume low so that the
neighbouring departments are not disturbed. We will look into the
matter since PUTA has requested, but sometimes matters are
exaggerated."
(Japjeet Duggal can be contacted at japjeetd@gmail.com)
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