Documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan was stopped from entering Mumbai University’s Kalina campus on Saturday when he arrived to express solidarity with a research scholar who has been staging a protest on the premises for several months.

Patwardhan said he was not given a clear explanation for being denied entry at the main gate. The filmmaker had come to meet Rajesh Bankhande, a research scholar who has since become a Buddhist monk and now goes by the name Bhadant Vimamsa.

Vimamsa has been holding a peaceful sit-in protest on the campus for more than six months. Patwardhan eventually met him outside the university gate, where he offered him a rose as a gesture of support and asked about his health.

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Activists raise concerns over freedom of expression

The incident drew reactions on social media after activist Lokshahir Sandesh Gaikwad criticised the move and questioned the university’s decision.

Gaikwad said denying entry to a senior filmmaker raised concerns about freedom of expression and the right to peaceful protest. He described the development as “unfortunate” and called on the university to clarify its position.

The episode comes weeks after actor Naseeruddin Shah was reportedly “uninvited” from an event on Urdu poetry at the same university.

Mumbai University cites law-and-order concerns

In a statement, Mumbai University said it had no prior information about Patwardhan’s visit. The university said that had the administration been informed beforehand, the filmmaker would have been welcomed on campus.

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Officials also pointed to concerns over the ongoing protest by the research scholar.

“Various administrative departments and professors, along with their families, reside in apartments in this complex,” the statement said.

The university added that because a law-and-order issue had arisen due to Rajesh Bankhande’s sit-in protest on the Kalina campus, authorities were questioning visitors before allowing them entry.