Kashmiri students of AMU refuse to meet Yogi, say they don't want to be a part of 'photo-op politics'

The Chief Minister had invited Kashmiri students to explain the 'advantages' of the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir
Image for representational purpose only
Image for representational purpose only

In a jolt to the Uttar Pradesh government, Kashmiri students from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) who had been invited for an interaction with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on September 28, have declined the invite and issued an official statement stating "Kashmiri students at AMU do not want to become pawns in the hands of Yogi’s politics to create a façade of his healthy relations with the people of Kashmir."

The students described the invitation as 'political in nature' and 'unacceptable'. They said that the initiative was aimed to feed the states' political propaganda. The Chief Minister had invited Kashmiri students to explain the 'advantages' of the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

"When BJP did not bother to consult Kashmiris when it revoked Article 370, and reduced the state to Union Territories, why is it bothered to talk to them now? This is sheer hypocrisy! The BJP has made Kashmir an open air prison, and now they are trying to portray normalcy by talking to AMU students. This is shameful. If Yogi ji, really wants to talk to Kashmiris, let him ask his central government to restore mobile and Internet services in Kashmir. Let Modi ji and Yogi Ji go to Sringar, lift the restrictions and talk to Kashmiris," says Mohammad Salman Imtiaz, the AMUSU president.

Another student from Kashmir said that this move is purely politically motivated. "They want to show the world that everything is normal and all are happy with their controversial decision, which is untrue," said the student, adding that they did not want to become part of any misleading political activity.

The statement reads: "After threadbare discussions among students, the university administration and the officials of the government were informed that Kashmiri students were amazed to know about this invitation as students have never received such political invitations before. The students find this invitation political in nature and deem it unacceptable as it is aimed to feed the states’ political propaganda. The officials were told that UP Chief Minister has no sympathy towards Kashmiris, and this attempt to meet Kashmiri students is a part of a photo-op politics aimed at misleading the world about worsening humanitarian crisis and the clampdown in Kashmir."

"Under circumstances, when the entire Kashmir is incommunicado, and the reports of illegal imprisonments, torture and humiliation of common citizens are making international headlines, there is no meaning of talking to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister. If his government at the Centre has not consulted us while deciding our political fate, and has barred us from talking to our loved ones back home, by what moral right is he inviting us to talk to him!" the students at AMU have said.

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