Agitating ‘outstation’ students demand they be allowed to daily hoist Tricolour at main gate.
New Delhi : The sequence of tension on the campus of educational institutions across the country seems to be continuing, and this time it is the students of the National Institute of Technology, Srinagar, who are on the path of agitation.
These NITs have half the students from the state and the other half from the rest of the country. The ‘‘outstation students’’ — as they are referred to — are on the war path and have refused to cooperate with a visiting central team. They have also demanded immediate action against some NIT officials, who allegedly indulged in “anti-national” activities.
Tension gripped the NIT campus, located on the banks of the famous Dal Lake, last week after India lost to West Indies in the T-20 semi-final prompting some local students to rejoice and burst crackers. This was protested by the outstation students resulting in clashes.
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Since March 31st night, the situation inside the campus has been volatile and the authorities had posted personnel from Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB). The local police is manning the main gate of the institute. The outstation students have been alleging that they are not being allowed to step outside the campus by the local police. There have been visuals of the police beating down a student after they marched with the Tricolour in their hands.
Commenting on the matter, HRD Minister Smriti Irani said she had spoken to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti who assured her that safety of all students will be ensured. “My officers are in touch with the agitating students and their family members. One or two students said they wanted to go back home for which my ministry is making arrangements,” she said.
Union home minister Rajnath Singh, who is campaigning in West Bengal for assembly polls, said that he had spoken to the state chief minister who has assured that all students are safe and she would enquire how the incident happened and fix responsibility.
The agitating students have demanded that some of the NIT officials should be transferred and action taken against them for their alleged “anti-national” activities and that they be allowed to daily hoist the Tricolour at the main gate. They have also demanded shifting of the campus to Jammu and building of a temple inside campus.
Congress slams BJP
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said that the tension on campuses is primarily due to the divisive political agenda of the ruling BJP.”In Delhi, they arrest students on the basis of an alleged fake video, and in Srinagar their BJP-PDP government lathi charges the students who are carrying the Tricolour. So, the BJP follows a ‘heads I win, and tails you lose’ policy. In Delhi it speaks in one language, and in Srinagar it sings a different tune,” he added.
Supporting the Srinagar students, Tewari added, ”The Congress has always stood for the Tricolour, and we fully support the right of the students to fly the national flag. But the BJP should desist from such divisive politics.”
