Students from Jammu and Kashmir at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) staged a protest yesterday, December 26, against the alleged harassment faced by them on campus.
The protests come after an incident on December 25, where a student from Kashmir was allegedly thrashed by other students for requesting them not to play badminton at 1.00 am inside the hostel premises at MM Hall, AMU. After an escalation in that fight, about 150 students from Kashmir took to protesting on campus on December 26. "This is not the first time such an incident has occurred. This is the fourth such attack on students from Kashmir just this month. There are more than 1,300 students from Kashmir at AMU and we frequently face such clashes. On minor issues, students will barge into the halls and rooms of Kashmiri students, vandalise the place and beat us up," a student from Kashmir at AMU told EdexLive on the condition of anonymity.
On Monday, when the students staged a protest on campus, they claim that the Proctor of the varsity arrived at the site of the protest and ordered security officials to disperse the protestors, following which, the protestors claimed they were lathi-charged and manhandled by the security guards. Police arrived on the scene and assured the students of a meeting with the District Magistrate to present their demands.
Letter to the Union Home Minister
The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) has now written a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, demanding a "time-bound inquiry" into the repeated attacks against Kashmiri students at AMU to ascertain "facts, circumstances and nefarious designs" behind the alleged harassment of students from the valley. They have also demanded an immediate replacement of the Proctor, for failing to maintain a "safe and conducive" atmosphere on campus for students.
"The Aligarh Muslim University administration needs to initiate criminal proceedings against people who are indulging in targeted harassment of Kashmiri students. We demand that a special team be constituted to ensure the safety and well-being of students from Jammu and Kashmir," said Nasir Khuehami, President of the JKSA. He added that other students on campus had a problem with the "identity" of students from Kashmir, which prompted these alleged attacks.
When EdexLive reached out to the university for a comment, an official in the administration claimed that there was no such harassment of any student group. He added that a detailed statement throwing some light on recent incidents will be released in due course. This article will be updated accordingly.
