Kashmiri students studying at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on October 15 organized a protest march on the campus and have threatened to leave for their homes on October 17, if the sedition charges on their three peers are not dropped.
The students held protest march from the Sir Syed Gate to the office of Vice Chancellor Prof. Tariq Mansoor.
Sajjad Rathar, former vice-president AMU students union, in a letter to AMU vice-chancellor said, “If this vilification does not stop, more than 1,200 Kashmiri students will leave for their homes in the Kashmir Valley on October 17 as a last option.”
The letter was handed over to AMU Proctor Mohsin Khan in presence of Kashmiri students.
Five of the protesting students also met the university registrar Abdul Hamid and handed over a memorandum alleging that they were living in a state of constant fear.
Rathar while terming the slapping of sedition charges as “vendetta” said, “The option of holding Namaaz-e-Janaza (prayer meeting) in absentia was dropped after the AMU authorities did not give the permission.”
“If no prayer meeting was held as confirmed by all official agencies, the slapping a case of sedition against three Kashmiri students is simply a vendetta, harassment and denial of justice,” Rathar further added.
However, AMU spokesman Shafay Kidwai, denied the Kashmiri students’ charges of harassment and stressed that “no innocent would be framed”.
