MEERUT - Around 150 students pursuing different courses at Swami Vivekanand Subharti University in Indian city of Meerut have been expelled from their hostels after students clashed with Kashmiris at the end of the Indo-Pak cricket match on Sunday.
According to their parents who rang up different newspapers to record their protest, the students were ferried in vehicles to Ghaziabad on Monday “wherein they are asked to go back to Occupied Kashmir or New Delhi”, reported Indian media on Tuesday.
While giving details, a brother of a student pursuing Masters at the university said “During the match when India was winning, some students hooted at Kashmiri students and when Pakistan won the match, there were cries of joy from Kashmiri students.”
“After the match ended, some non-Kashmiri students barged into the hostel of Kashmiri students. They broke furniture, windows and thrashed some Kashmiri students too,” said a parent of another student. “There was a big confrontation and in the morning Vice Chancellor brought police into the campus.” The parents of these students said their wards were “dragged from their hostels and bundled into vehicles escorted by the police. They were taken to Ghaziabad. They didn’t have any money with them,” said a parent. “Now there are reports that Kashmiri girl students are also being thrown out of the university.”
The parents slammed the Indian government for “falsely advertising a helpline that doesn’t respond.” “We called the liaison officer for Kashmiri students in New Delhi number of times on both of his numbers, but he didn’t bother to pick up the phone,” said an aggrieved parent. “Why does government falsely advertise such numbers when it is useless?”
Almost all students have been selected to the university under the Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme. They are pursuing various degrees in engineering, BBA, Law, BDS and other courses.
Despite repeated attempts, no official from the university was available to comment on the issue.
People Democratic Party staged walkout during question hour in the legislative assembly of Held Kashmir in protest over expulsion of Kashmiri students by a UP university.
Members also sought UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s intervention to ensure cancellation of their expulsion order and their safety on the campus.