SRINAGAR: Following tension between the local and non-local students on the campus of National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar, following the T-20 semi-final between India and West Indies, the college authorities on Friday evening decided to lock down the campus till further orders.
Some of the local students from nearby places were also directed to vacate the hostel rooms to restore order in the campus, which remained volatile throughout the day.
SSP Srinagar Amit Kumar along with other police officers visited the NIT campus late in the evening to pacify the agitated students. A peace committee was also set up to ensure that normalcy was restored as soon as possible.
According to college students, “Tension was brewing on the campus over the past three four days following minor scuffle between a local research scholar and a third year student in the hostel mess”.
However, the situation took an ugly turn on Thursday night after India lost the semifinal match triggering celebrations by few local students.
The first year and third year students alleged their hostel rooms were targeted by the stone-pelters and window panes broken. Crackers were also burst and slogan shouting was reported from different hostel rooms which led to tension between the two student groups. In the morning the build-up started happening with both the student groups gathering in front of the Administrative Block of the Institute.
Chants of ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Hum Kya Chate…. Azadi’ reverberated in the air for over three-four hours. Students were seen moving holding Tricolor in their hands while the students from the other group displayed flags too to provoke strong reaction in the rival group.
Initially the college authorities tried to broker a peace deal between the warring student groups but as they failed in their efforts and exhausted almost all their options for about four hours, the Director of the Institute called in local police and Paramilitary Forces to ensure peaceful disbursal of the agitated students. As the chaos prevailed the police ordered cane charge and lobbed teargas shells to disperse the students.
Both the student groups were not willing to budge and stood their ground demanding action against each other.
While local students alleged that some of their mates were thrashed by non-local students, who also damaged the infrastructure to vent their anger, the latter said that it were actually local students who attacked them when they objected to their openly rejoicing over India’s defeat in the T20 semi-final.
A senior faculty member told STATE TIMES that a group of local students was cheering the West Indies victory inside the campus but another group comprising non-locals objected to it and the initial verbal brawl led to physical clash between the two sides.
The non-local students said they were feeling insecure and sought intervention of the government at the Centre.
BJP MLA Ravinder Raina this evening contacted Governor NN Vohra and apprised him about the tense situation on the NIT campus.
Talking to STATE TIMES Raina said, “I have requested Governor NN Vohra to ensure safety of all non-local students at all costs.”
He said, “We will not tolerate any form of violence at the behest of local students on the campus to target the non-local students.”
Raina said, “I tried my best to contact Home Minister Rajnath Singh but failed to reach him due to his busy schedule.”
During the clashes between protesting students and police and CRPF which used batons and tear smoke several people, mainly students were injured, witnesses said.
NIT Registrar Prof T.A Mir said that the Institute has been closed indefinitely in view of the prevailing indiscipline created by students at the campus and asked the students to vacate the hostels immediately.
“The decision has been taken due to continued indiscipline even after repeated requests were made to students by the Institute (authorities) as well as the local administration,” he said.