Amid violent clashes, class work was completely disrupted for the third consecutive day in Kashmir University as amid boycotting the classes, hundreds of students staged a massive protest on Thursday against the continuous detention of varsity student Muzamil Farooq Dar by police. Dar was arrested by police during nocturnal raid at his rental residence at Sadrabal area of Hazaratbal in connection with his alleged role to stop University from organizing Yoga Day in the campus. Eyewitnesses told CNS that the female students amid rains staged a peaceful sit-in outside Humanties Block demanding immediate release of arrested student, the males student amid pro-freedom and anti-India slogans marched through different lanes of the campus asking teaching staff and students to abstain from classes. Reports said that hundreds of students assembled outside Vice Chancellor Secretariat. Eyewitnesses said that as the students came closer to VC office, one of the policemen allegedly in a bid to disperse them fired a bullet in the air that angered the students who resorted to massive stone-pelting, smashing window panes of VC Secretariat office. Reinforcement was called to quell the students who continuously pelted stones on the VC building. The government forces reportedly charged the protesting students with canes that left several students including some female students injured. Students alleged that police used scores of tear-smoke shells to disperse female protesters.
Pertinently, class work was disrupted on Wednesday also after the protesting students amid massive protests against the ‘illegal’ detention of student locked up Administration Block for hours. The students alleged that University authorities are harassing the students putting up in hostels. “The authorities have warned us of dire consequences in case we participate in the protests. Students are being harassed,” the protesting students told CNS. The students in rage pitched slogans against the KU administration besides pitching: “Hum Sab Muzamil Hai (We are all Muzamil).” “We have been demanding the resignation of Chief Procter, Warden Girls Hostel,” the studnts said and accused Chief Procter responsible for violent action against students on Thursday.
KU Vice Chancellor, Khursheed Iqbal Andrabi told CNS that police is not elaborating and giving the grounds of Muzamil’s detention. “I talked to IGP and DGP urging them to release Muzamil without any delay. First they said that Muzamil has been arrested in connection with militancy. At least the police should elaborate so that we could communicate to protesting students accordingly,” Andrabi said.
Meanwhile, a handout issued by Kashmir University said that, “the University authorities held several rounds of negotiations with the protesting students, urging them to call off the protests in the light of the fact that the Vice Chancellor had taken up the matter with the State Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and Inspector General of Police (Kashmir), seeking their intervention in the matter. The students however refused to call off the protests and without any provocation resorted to heavy stone pelting on the administration block and damaged the University property. The University security chose to exercise maximum restraint to safeguard the student interests.In the meantime, the University has suspended class work in its Main Campus till June 27th 2015,” the handout reads. (CNS)