Karnataka: Two of three students charged of sedition are class toppers

The arrest of three Kashmiri students studying at the KLES Institute of Technology in Hubballi, under the strict provisions of IPC Section 124 (A) with regard to sedition, has sent a shock wave among the students and the lecturers alike.

So much so that they have started feeling of being back-stabbed by these three students. Neither the students nor the teachers had any whiff of these three students, Ameer Wani, Basit Sofia, and Talib Majid, having such ‘grudges’ against India.

Ameer and Basit are first-year Civil Engineering students, while Talib is a second-year Computer Science student. All the three have been arrested by the Hubballi-Dharwad Police Commissionerate for raising Pro-Pakistan and Azadi slogans. They had got a seat in the college under the Union government's quota.

DH spoke to nearly four lecturers and a few students at the KLES Institute of Technology, and all of them stated that they were shocked to hear the three being involved in such an act.

Basit was a class topper, while Ameer was second-best in the class. They always used to sit on the front bench in the class and were very receptive in the classes. They never behaved in a way that was a disgrace of a student, said one of the lecturers who taught them.

Their hostel mates also said, the three had even participated in the Ganesh festival, which was organised at the hostel. They applied ‘tilak’ to their foreheads and had participated in the festival enthusiastically.

However, one student stated that the three were a bit hyper, and would lose their temper even on minor issues.

On Saturday, when police came calling to arrest them, the trio is said to have wept inconsolably and were reiterating that they did it without knowing.

They begged for mercy, and said, they would not do it again in future, said a senior lecturer who was at the Principle’s chamber when the principal had summoned these three students for questioning.