Aligarh: Kashmiri students at the Aligarh Muslim University have deferred their decision to surrender their degrees and left the campus en masse on Wednesday following revocation of the suspension order of the two students by the varsity.
The suspension order was revoked Tuesday night after a three-member inquiry panel set up by the varsity exonerated Waseem Ayyub Malik and Abdul Haseeb Mir, saying “no credible evidence” of their participation in any “unlawful assembly” in the varsity campus was found, AMU spokesperson Shafey Kidwai said.
The students were suspended for allegedly attempting to conduct a Namaaz-e-Janaz (funeral prayers) for slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Manan Wani, who was a research scholar at the university.
In a letter addressed to the proctor, the students denied holding any prayer meeting and said they had gathered in the lawns to discuss the situation in Kashmir because of multiple reports of violence. “No prayers or any relevant activity was observed, and the directions of the AMU Proctor were duly followed. Meanwhile, some non-Kashmiri people armed with Lathis attacked the sitting students and caused a massive disturbance, and noisy scenes. However, the Kashmiri students dispersed immediately and no protest or law and order violation took place,” the letter stated.
The letter had further accused the media of beginning a vilification campaign against students from Jammu and Kashmir. “Later, a vilification campaign against the students from Jammu and Kashmir was started by media that Kashmiri students violated the law and disturbed the peace in the campus. Though nothing of that sort had happened and the same was later confirmed by PRO AMU to the media,” the letter continued.
Malik and Meer, besides one unknown person, were also booked by police on sedition charges for allegedly raising “anti-India” slogans. The police booked the students for allegedly raising slogans of azadi and against the country while supporting a terrorist, as reported by the Indian Express.
The Kashmiri students of the university had threatened to leave campus and surrender their degrees if the suspension wasn’t withdrawn. “We, the students at AMU, unanimously refute these allegations of violation of law and order and thereby demand an end to defamation of highly educated Kashmiri scholars. We demand an immediate revocation of suspension orders/show cause notices and an urgent withdrawal of the sedition charges and relevant legal sections against AMU scholars.”
Former AMU Students’ Union president Mashkoor Ahmad Usmani told PTI that the decision to revoke the suspension order of the two Kashmiri students was a “welcome step” and will have salutary effect not only in the AMU, but also in the Kashmir Valley.
“We are strongly opposed to any anti-national act and we will never allow any such incident to take place at the campus. However, we are strongly opposed to any attempt to harass any student, be it from Kashmir or from any other part of the country.
“We feel that slapping of a sedition case against the two Kashmiri students by police was hasty, ill conceived and based on flimsy evidence,” Usmani said.
He said if the police fails to withdraw the cases, the Kashmiri students have decided to re-launch their protest and go ahead with their peaceful resistance by leaving the campus en masse.
Former AMU Students’ Union vice president Sajjad Subhan Rather, who hails from Kashmir and led a silent protest Tuesday at the venue of the All India AMU Alumni Meet, demanded justice for the Kashmiri students.
“We have come to the AMU to build our careers. Please do not snatch away the ‘pens’ from our hands,” he said.
Meanwhile, former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju, who is currently abroad, has made an emotional appeal to the Kashmiri students studying at the AMU, urging them not to be “carried away by emotions and abandon their promising futures.”
“I wish to send my greetings to Kashmiri students since my DNA is same as theirs. They must not get disheartened by the recent unfortunate turn of events,” Katju told PTI.
He assured the Kashmiri students that if they ever needed his help, he will always be available for them in a just cause.
According to AMU officials, Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik is playing a key role in resolving the ongoing crisis at the AMU. Malik is reported to be in close touch with the Uttar Pradesh government and the AMU authorities.
(With PTI inputs)