- J&K Police have been accused of ‘anti-national’ behaviour after their crackdown on non-local students as NIT Srinagar
- Some students were injured in police clashes where a lathi-charge was used
- Senior officers have expressed their sadness and anger in posts on Facebook and WhatsApp
- One summarised: ‘You beat a law enforcement officer for enforcing law. Better start your own police station!’
Angry at being called anti-national for their action against non-local students of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), senior J&K police officers have taken to social networking sites to vent their frustrations.
What most angered these officers, who have been on the forefront of anti-militancy operations in the state, is the fact they have been removed from the NIT campus and replaced by the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
With the help of the CRPF, the NIT students on Thursday hoisted the tricolour and sung the national anthem inside the NIT campus.
A top police official posted in north Kashmir wrote on his Facebook page: “Many of my colleagues have been asking, while many more must be thinking, ‘whose war are we fighting?’ All I can tell them is that this is just another phase and this too shall pass. J&K Police doesn’t need any certificate for patriotism. We must continue doing the good work that we are doing within the ambit of law and nothing shall deter us. The common people whom we serve may be alienated from us for reasons more than one, but our good work shall certainly help us win their hearts someday.”
In a WhatsApp group, a top police official of the rank of Deputy Inspector General wrote: “Jammu and Kashmir Police doesn’t discriminate on the basis of who’s local and who’s non-local. Neither do we enjoy beating up people. Force is used only for maintenance of law and order and to disperse unlawful assembly of people.”
Another senior officer of the rank SSP, defended the police response against the NIT students, writing: “Someone resorting to violence is committing a crime and police knows how to take on crime.”
Another SSP posted in Srinagar wrote: “Police action is not doubted when a student from any other institute is booked for breaking law, but there’s controversy while we are dealing with students of a particular institute!”
“You beat a law enforcement officer for enforcing law. Better start your own police station inside the NIT and tell an engineering student to operate the kotwali,” one angry officer wrote.
Jammu and Kashmir police have maintained that they lathi-charged some non-local NIT students as they had resorted to stone-pelting against the police. A police spokesman said about 500 NIT students carried banners displaying their demands and tried to take out a march.
“They tried to come out on the main road. The police deployment stopped them from doing so and told them to move back. The mob resorted to violence and assaulted the policemen, including officers, and started stone pelting,” the police spokesman said.
He added that this resulted in damage to public property.
“The deployment chased the mob and in this melee some of the students got injured. They were given first aid.”
Police sources said they have identified 20 students and faculty members allegedly involved with inciting students and whipping up passions. The police say they have video footage of the entire episode.
The stand-off in the NIT campus continued unabated on Thursday, with non-local students staying away from classes.
However, the story got a new twist as J&K Police released a video showing non-local students of the institute vandalising property, pelting stones and confronting policemen on campus.
Sources claimed that the police released the video stealthily as they are coming under sharp criticism for taking action against non-local students on Tuesday afternoon, which allegedly left several injured.
Soon after the lathi-charge, non-local students posted a video of police action against them on social networking sites, including Facebook. The video shows police cane-charging the students and thrashing them severely. It also shows several policemen mercilessly beating a lone student even after he fell down.
A new video has emerged which allegedly shows non-local students vandalising property, pelting stones, and confronting policemen on the NIT campus
The trouble started in the institute on the night of India’s defeat in the semi-final clash with West Indies in T20 World Cup. Heated arguments took place between non-Kashmiri students and Kashmiri students in the dining hall of the institute, as the Kashmiri students celebrated India’s defeat to avenge alleged taunts and harassment by non-local students when India was on a winning spree.
There are around 150 Kashmiri students in the institute while non-Kashmiris from different states are around 1,800.
Next day, the non-local students staged a sit-in outside the director’s office, shouting pro-India slogans, and demanded action against Kashmiri students for Thursday night’s celebrations.
Later these students raised the Tricolour, which Kashmiri students objected to, leading to a scuffle.
On Tuesday non-local students alleged that J&K Police subjected them to lathi-charge and severe beating when they were taking part in a peaceful protest. To give credence to their claim, the students released a video of police action against them.
Though the police didn’t deny the video posted by the students on the Facebook, they claimed that the students committed a serious breach of law and order that led to police action.
With an MHRD team camping on campus and top police officials regularly visiting the varsity to pledge their full support and security, the students say they are feeling insecure and the NIT should be shifted from Srinagar.
Police have also registered two separate FIRs regarding the incidents of violence that took place on NIT Srinagar campus on last Friday and Tuesday.
The first FIR was registered against unknown persons for the clashes between outstation and local students on April 1, a day after India lost to West Indies in the semi-final of the World T20 Cup.
Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday ordered a time-bound inquiry into the clashes at NIT.
“We have instituted an inquiry to go into the incidents at the NIT,” Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh told reporters.
He said the Additional District Magistrate of Srinagar will conduct the inquiry and submit his report within 15 days.
“We will resolve this issue at the earliest,” Singh said.
Asked about his comment that students were subjected to ‘mild lathi-charge’, Singh said his statement at that time was based on information he had received.
