Shortly West Indies thrashed India in a thrilling T20 semi finals on Thursday late night, scores of non-local engineering students at NIT Hazratbal allegedly thrashed Kashmiri students for celebrating win of Caribbean team.The Kashmiri students at NIT told news agency GNS that soon after match was over they started celebrating but students from other states couldn’t tolerate these celebrations and they started ‘thrashing’ them.“As they started beating us, we also retaliated and there was intense altercation between locals and non-locals. They hurled abuses for celebrating Indian defeat,” a student and eyewitness told GNS on the condition of anonymity. He said afterwards the situation returned to normalcy.The Kashmiri students said that the today when Friday prayers were over the non-local students took out a pro-India march inside the campus and raised ‘provocative slogans’. “They shouted slogans against Pakistan and also shouted ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and hoisted Indian flag which infuriated the local students,” the student who spoke to GNS said.He said following the pro-India protest, the local Kashmiri students also took out a counter-protest march in which they raised pro-Pakistan slogans. “The students were shouting pro-Islam and pro-Pakistan slogans. They also hoisted a green flag in the campus,” he said.
Within no time, he said, the local and non-local students once again came to face to face and started thrashing each other. “Both sides beat each other while non-Kashmiri students damaged electronic equipments of locals in hostels. Besides, a teacher and a delivery boy of a private company were thrashed by non-local students,” the student said.Eyewitnesses said police personnel arrived in the campus and started teargas shelling to disperse the students who were thrashing each other. The police also resorted to cane charge and chased the students.Meanwhile, Registrar of the NIT, FA Mir told news agency GNS that they have started a probe into the whole incident. Also, FA Mir issued ordered the closure of the NIT in a notification vide order number NIT/R/16.4391.“In view of the prevailing indiscipline, created by the students, from today 1st April 2016, the institute is closed till further orders. Students are therefore directed to vacate the hostels. The decision has been taken due to the denial by the students to maintain discipline even after repeated requests by the in as well local administration,” the order, a copy of which lies with GNS, reads. (GNS)