MUMBAI: A group of filmmakers on Wednesday returned their national awards in support of Film and Television Institute of India students and to protest against the 'rising intolerance' in the country.

Dibakar Banerjee , Paresh Kamdar and eight other filmmakers returned their awards while extending support to the FTII students, who have been protesting against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the institute's chairman.

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"We could not think of any better idea than return our national awards because that's all we have," said Dibakar Banerjee talking to reporters.

The move comes on a day the FTII students unilaterally called off their 139-day-old stir, while declaring that "peaceful" protests against Chauhan's appointment will continue.

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The other film directors who returned their awards include Lipika Singh, Nishtha Jain, Anand Patwardhan , Kirti Nakhwa, Harsh Kulkarni, Hari Nair.

"People have started returning awards, obviously there is something going on in country which some people can see and some can't," said Anand Patwardhan.

The filmmakers also lodged their protest against the killings of Kalburgi and Pansare.

They demanded that the government must commit itself to protect the freedom of expression.

Read this story in Hindi: 12 फिल्मकारों ने अवॉर्ड लौटाए