Tension mounts at NIT: Students allege police brutality, threat to career

SRINAGAR: The protesting outstation students at Srinagar National Institute of Technology (NIT) on Wednesday demanded that they be evacuated and the college should be shifted out of Jammu and Kashmir’s summer capital.

Though media was denied access to the venue of meeting a two-member team of the Union Human Resources Development (HRD) ministry had with the outstation students at the NIT campus in Srinagar’- and even not allowed to enter the campus-, a video released by the students shows them agitating their demands before the team.

The HRD team comprising S.K. Sharma, Director NITs and Fazal Mehmood, Deputy Director Finance, at the ministry earlier arrived here to visit the NIT after it witnessed clashes in which many students were injured on Tuesday evening. The students told the HRD ministry team that they are being issued academic threats. “They openly tell us we will ruin your careers,” said a female student.

She and two other female students also alleged that when they raise the issue they are being accused of spreading rumours “which is totally false”.
Demanding evacuation of outstation students, they also said that the NIT should be shifted from Srinagar.

The NIT at Srinagar, earlier known as Regional Engineering College (REC), has nearly 2,500 students and 400 academic staff members. A majority of the students, however, comes from outside Jammu and Kashmir.

Referring to police cane-charge in which several outstation students were injured on Tuesday evening, they asked which law authorises the police to use “brute force” against students and hit them in their heads.

Tuesday’s police action evoked outrage across the country and many people took to social networking sites to denounce it. The campus had earlier this month witnessed trouble when Kashmiri students celebrated India’s defeat at the hands of West Indies in ICC Twenty-20 semi final by chanting pro-Pakistan slogans.