The AMU crisis
Aligarh Muslim University is considered a destination of choice for Kashmiri students when it comes to pursuing professional courses and higher education studies. At present nearly 1300 students from Kashmir are studying in the varsity who have been feeling harassed over the past few days now.
The harassment of Kashmiri students at the University has led to an outrage here in Kashmir. Not only have mainstream politicians expressed concern over the plight of the students at AMU but even the separatist organizations in Kashmir have expressed surprise and dismay over the way the students have been dealt with.
The crisis at AMU is bound to have serious repercussions in Kashmir. That being the reason that the governor’s administration in Jammu and Kashmir said that it has taken up the matter with the Uttar Pradesh government and assured that all concerns will be addressed.
Even the state administration has been in touch with the police in UP and is asking them to let the students pursue their education in a safe and secure environment. The AMU crisis began when the varsity authorities initiated an internal inquiry against some students for allegedly planning prayers in absentia for PhD scholar-turned-militant Manan Wani who was killed in a gunfight in northern Kashmir on Thursday.
Wani was pursuing his PhD from AMU when he left his studies midway and joined militant ranks.
The police in Aligarh said that it has also registered a case of sedition against some students who had allegedly gathered at the AMU’s Kennedy Hall for offering absentia prayers for Manan—a charge denied by the students.
The issue, made more complicated by the police action is snowballing into a major crisis as the nearly 1300 students have come in open support of three Kashmirir students who have been booked for sedition. The students have threatened to leave the varsity en-mass in case the case is not withdrawn immediately.
The AMU crisis has emerged at a time when several such instances have cropped up across various Indian states wherein students hailing from Kashmir were either harassed by fellow students or were targeted by some fanatic elements.
In Punjab even some Kashmiri students were detained by various investigation agencies and in Greater Noida two Kashmiri students were beaten ruthlessly by an unruly mob for the mere fact that the youth hailed from Kashmir.
All such incidents point out that some behind the veil conspiracy is being hatched to target the students community from pursuing their careers and fulfilling their dreams of achieving greater heights in various fields.
Jammu and Kashmir has been going through a tough phase since the past three decades now and people here have been preferring to send their wards to various institutions to complete their education.
The parents resorting to send their wards outside Jammu and Kashmir for education is more of a compulsion than a matter of choice. In Jammu and Kashmir the education scenario is turning worse with every passing day. In some areas, the state has regressed. The drop-out rates have increased from 6.93 to 10.3 per cent for primary students and from 5.36 to 10.2 per cent for upper primary students.
In such a scenario if the students are harassed and disallowed to pursue education even in outside institutions it gives a clear indication that somewhere a deep rooted conspiracy is being hatched to derail the education sector entirely.
KV Online
