NIT Srinagar students stage protest at Jantar Mantar

Demand shifting of the campus to another place as they feel “unsafe”

A day after their protest in Jammu, a group of students from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Srinagar on Wednesday staged a protest at Jantar Mantar here demanding that the campus be shifted to another place.

The institute was in the news following a clash between the local and outstation students recently. Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s student wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), also joined the protestors.

“We want the Union Human Resource Development Ministry to pay attention to our demand to shift the campus out of Srinagar. Also, someone should be held accountable for police action on students,” a protesting student said.

Another student said: “We had raised this demand with the Human Resource Development officials who visited the campus, but they turned it down. We want the campus shifted out of Srinagar as we don’t feel safe there anymore. We also want withdrawal of all cases against non-Kashmiri students at NIT and full security for them.”

Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) joint secretary and ABVP member Saurabh Sharma, who joined the protest, said: “We joined the protest by the NIT Srinagar students earlier in the day. Later, we also tried to meet Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani to raise their demands with her.”

On March 31, some local students of NIT Srinagar, located on the banks of Dal lake, started bursting crackers to allegedly celebrate the loss of the Indian team in the T-20 semi-final.

This led to a protest by the outstation students, which resulted in a clash between the two groups. This led to serious tension inside the campus and situation has remained volatile since. The authorities had to post personnel from the Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) to keep the situation under control, while the local police manned the main gates of the institute.

Expressing a sense of insecurity, a group of outstation students left the campus after the Human Resource Development Ministry gave them the option of appearing for the exams later.

The Human Resource Development Ministry had sent a three-member team to the campus last week to take stock of the situation and hold talks with the agitating students. The team will remain in Srinagar till the ongoing exams conclude.