Ensure safety of Kashmiri students in different parts of India: Kashmir Civil Society

‘We appeal all the students to remain focused on their studies’

5 Dariya News

Srinagar 12-Apr-2016

Kashmir Civil society comprising of Bar Association, KCSDS and other formations note with great concern the pre-planned incident that took place in NIT Srinagar after the conclusion of 31st March India-West Indies cricket match in Mumbai.This manipulated row provided a pretext to the federal government to issue a series of statements and the few Indian news channels to carry out propaganda against Kashmiris esp Times Now and News X and other Hindi channels. It is important to set the records right by putting the facts before the Indian public. After conducting an internal inquiry, we came to know that the row was started by non local students on 25th March after the defeat of Pakistan cricket team at the hands of Australian team at Mohali by 21 runs. The non locals celebrated this defeat with great fanfare to apparently provoke the local students and laugh and revel at their discomfiture. It is needless to say that Kashmiri youth always side with Pak team and mourn their defeat since the birth of Pakistani cricket team for reasons known to everyone. In response to this on 31st March at the conclusion of 2nd semi final between India and West Indies, Kashmiri students celebrated Indian defeat comparatively for a brief while not so much for the love of West Indies team as to wreak vengeance on the non local students for what they had done on 25th March. Next day i.e Friday, the non locals assembled and took out a procession around the entire campus displaying a huge tri-colour flag which descended as if ‘from heaven. ‘Everyone is intrigued from where it came as there are no flags available in the market in the vicinity of the college. Then they also hoisted flags on the hostel building and some other buildings. Though the next day the flags had been removed. Another intriguing thing is that persons like Aupam Kher tweeted within no time, even before staffers in the college came to know about it. It seems BJP-RSS combine has outsourced the fomentation of trouble in the universities and the colleges to Anupam Kher and th like who is a spend force as an actor and wants public attention b hook or by crook. Communal politics has come handy to him as it ensures headlines and prime time slot on ultra nationalist and communal channels

The local students assembled to protest at the other side of the campus when the protesters beat a poor courier deliverer boy for not chanting Bharat Mata ki Jay and ruthlessly beat a research scholar, Shoaib who tried to counsel them against creating turbulnce and disturbing the peaceful relations of students on the campus. A look at the videos and photographs tells us that it was all pre planned which is further corroborated by the students and the objective analysts of the college who point the finger toward one teacher in the Metallurgy dept as the mastermind behind these happenings in the college. The teacher has returned to college before two months after availing the study leave. Therefore, all the circumstantial evidence points to its being a pre-planned affair. The non local students continued protesting and marched towards the gate to come out of the college premises.The police did not allow them to come out of the campus as they always do to students in such situations in colleges and the Kashmir university or elsewhere in the state..But the protesting boys pelted stones on the police and hurled profusion of abuses on them while persisting in their efforts to come out. In response to this police officer ordered lathi-charge on the protesters. Kashmiris have borne the brunt of brute force in the form of pellet guns which are tried on our youth every now and then for simple peaceful processions and hundreds have lost their eye sight in these operations but no eye brows have been raised in Delhi so far on those the disproportionate use of force by security agencies in Kashmir. In NIT case the issue of police action has been blown out of proportion as if such a thing had happened for the first not only in the history of Kashmir but in the history of mankind. It gave welcome excuse to the Indian government to display its majoritarian policy by issuing series of statements and descending on Kashmir like vultures for prey. After getting a drubbing in JNU RSS has been on the lookout for softer targets to carry forward its decadent obscurantist and fascist nationalist agenda and which could have been a softer than Kashmir? They take for granted almost ‘national consensus’ on whatever they do or say about Kashmir having created a fertile ground in India with disinformation and hate campaign against victimised Kashmiris for a long time.

It is pertinent to mention that there are around 2700 students of B Tech in NIT and M Tech students out of which roughly 600 are locals.How is it possible that non locals could threaten and become a cause of concern for the non local students’s safety. It is also pertinent to mention that even on Friday local students had no confrontation with the non local protesting students. They protested at the other side of the campus and did not come in close proximity with non locals. It is more than important to state that such an incident of communal polarisation has never taken place in its history in spite of the fact that Kashmiri and Indian students celebrate the victory of their respective favourite teams by bursting crackers.Needless to say that we have 5 lac labour force and domestic assistants in k who are treated as family members and have stayed here in worst circumstances. And almost 10000 students in B ED COLLEGES. Lacs of tourists visit k every year and have all praise for locals’ treatment. We rescued non locals in floods before our boys rescued their relatives.

We demand from the govt of India to fulfil her responsibility of ensuring safety and security to Kashmiri students in different parts of India and curb the utra national and communal channels from hate campaign against Kashmiris and poisonous stuff from being telecasted which is more than enough to balkanise the society along bloody communal lines with disastrous consequences. We appeal Indian civil society and political parties to come forward for ensuring safety of Kashmiri students in India. We appeal International orgs to take note of the growing attacks on Kashmiris in India and to put pressure on GOI to ensure safety of Kashmiri students and business men in India.If this hate campaign continues, government of India will be squarely responsible for the consequences. Kashmiris, in short, have displayed exemplary human behaviour towards Indians in spite of what the Indian state has done to them and this has been acknowledged by all those who have visited Kashmir in recent past despite our unwavering commitment to our inalienable right to self determination.We appeal all the students to remain focused on their studies and not to fall in the hands of vested interests to become an extension of the RSS agenda in Kashmir. Different ideological leanings which are permissible should not become a cause of skirmishes, divisions, disaffection, resulting in mutual bitterness, animosity and hatred. (KNS)