NEW DELHI: The Kashmiri students studying at Jawahar Lal Nehru University (JNU) on Tuesday extended their support and solidarity to their peers at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
A statement issued by Kashmiri students studying at AMU said they stand with their AMU counterparts “who have been made victims of the unfair and biased media trial and arbitrary action by the AMU Administration.”
“Despite the Kashmiri students having exercised maximum restraint in the situation that had befallen them, the disciplinary and legal action against the Kashmiri students in AMU is arbitrary and uncalled for. We commend the brave response of the Kashmiri student community of AMU who have stood strong, in unity, against discriminatory attitude of the AMU authorities who instead of standing by its students have chosen to victimize their students,” the statement said.
The statement said criminalization of a gathering of students of a certain identity is nothing but an act of deliberate targeting and maltreating of that community of students to isolate them and make them more vulnerable in the hostile environment of the university.
“The pressing of colonial era sedition charges and orders of suspension against the Kashmiri students in AMU for merely meeting and discussing a situation arising back home speaks volumes of how academic lives of Kashmiris pursuing studies in Indian universities come under continued and unwarranted harassment and persecution,” the statement said.
The student community demanded an immediate revocation of the suspension order and the withdrawal of the sedition charges against the Kashmiri students of AMU.
“The administration should also take responsibility of creating amicable conditions for the Kashmiri students in AMU in order to prevent their growing isolation and ensure their safety in the prevailing hostile environment,” it said.