AMU student denies tweeting controversial comment

Hyper-nationalist forces targeting us on frivolous grounds: Kashmiri students at AMU

A former Aligarh Muslim University Students' Union leader denied the allegation that a Kashmiri student of AMU tweeted in support of Thursday's Pulwama attack.

In an emailed statement on behalf of Kashmir students, Sajad Subhan Rather, former vice president, AMU Students’ Union, said that "hyper-nationalist" forces were targeting them on frivolous grounds.

“In the last couple of years, some elements are continuously trying to portray the AMU in the bad light. The AMU is being targeted by hyper-nationalist forces and the environment at the campus is being vitiated,” he said.

The statement came in the backdrop of Aligarh police registering a case against Basim Hilal, a mathematics student at the university, for allegedly lauding Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit in a social media post after the terror strike in Pulwama in which 49 CRPF personnel were killed.

While denying the allegations, Rather said, “The student is a responsible person and is aware about his duties in the legal and constitutional framework. The student has denied of tweeting the alleged tweet that is being spread in his name. We, the students’ fraternity from Jammu and Kashmir studying at AMU have talked to the concerned student and have found that nothing objectionable has been tweeted by the student.”

“We, the students from Jammu and Kashmir at the AMU have also been targeted on frivolous grounds in the past. It is a matter of serious concern that a Kashmiri student at the AMU is being alleged by some news portals for tweeting an objectionable tweet relating to the attack on CRPF in Kashmir,” he said.

“It appears that some elements are hell bent on defaming the Kashmir community at the AMU. We want to communicate the people across the spectrum that Kashmiri students at the AMU are focused on their academics and no attempts should be made to falsely implicate us or to threaten us,” he said.

“No attempts should be made to instil fear among the Kashmiri students across India and we should be allowed a democratic space to present our point of view in a reasonable manner. We don’t want to live under fear, and we want an environment of peace to exist and spread,” he added.

Screenshot of the reported tweet by the student is doing the rounds on social media and the University has suspended him following the controversy. However, the Twitter handle seen in the screenshot seems to be deleted.