Suspended Kashmiri students back in Valley

More than sixty Kashmiri students, who were suspended by the authorities of a university in Uttar Pradesh for celebrating Pakistan’s victory over India in a cricket match on Sunday, reached here on Monday.

The students were suspended after Vice-Chancellor of Swami Vivekanand Subharti University (SVSU) Dr Manzoor Ahmad said some of the students complained that a few Kashmiri students reportedly shouted “Pakistan zindabad” on way to their rooms. “We can’t accept such behaviour from any student,” he was quoted as saying by the media.

After reaching Srinagar, one of the students, who wished not to be named, told Deccan Herald that they had face immense hardship in their journey from Delhi to Srinagar as most of them do not have money for bus fare.

“We clapped when Pakistan won the match. This infuriated the local students and they went on a rampage, damaged the hall, hurled abuses at us and threatened to beat us,” he said.

“Next day we came to know that we have been suspended and the university officials slapped a fine of Rs 5,000 on us arbitrarily. We were asked to vacate the college as soon as possible,” he added. Another student said that they will only return to the university if security is provided to them.

However, the parents of the students appreciated the university’s move to give the students a safe passage to the valley. “Sending back the students to Kashmir for some days is a good step as it avoided any untoward incident. There was a heated argument between some students but most students are innocent, so we think university authorities did a good thing by sending them to valley in order to avoid any clashes,” said one of the parents.