The Jammu Kashmir National Conference on Friday expressed dismay over slashing of sedition charges on Kashmiri students in J&K and other parts of the country following the Indo-Pak cricket match during the ongoing T-20 World cup.
Calling the slashing of sedition charges on Kashmiri students studying in Jammu Kashmir and Agra on their reported cheering for the neighboring country on its victory in a cricket match ridiculous, Party Spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said the measures reek of utter misuse of the law.
“There wasn’t any call of violence or public disorder in the purported videos of the students celebrating the victory. One may agree with them or not. But dragging the entire thing into the political arena is outlandish. Why only Kashmiri students are subjected to such unwarranted exceptionalism? They could have been counseled and let go with a warning. This is not the way to be friends with the Kashmir youngsters. Fostering friendships requires handshakes, not handcuffs,” he rued.
“What will such unbridled muscle flexing of government have on the young impressionable minds of our youth. The incident involving Kashmiri students in Agra is perplexing. As per media reports, college authorities in Agra have already clarified that the three students in question have not raised any slogans. Merely on account of complaints by some outsiders, these innocent students are in jail. Why are they being victimized when they have not done anything illegal?” he added.
Alluding to the invoking of stringent acts against SKIMS, and GMC students, he further stated that far from ensuring a safe environment to heal the trauma of our youth, the ruling dispensation at Delhi and Srinagar are depriving them of their right to education. “The sedition charges and harsh punishment being meted out to our young on one or another reason is unacceptable. Such measures will prove least helpful to mainstream our youth; on the contrary such measures will further alienate them besides having psychosomatic consequences on their young impressionable minds, hence should be immediately withdrawn,” he said.
Seeking an end to the ongoing witch-hunt, Imran said intimidating students, and employees is not a step in the right direction, therefore all the charges should be withdrawn.