28 Kashmiris students in judicial remand in B’lore

Link to report

ARIF SHAFI WANI

Srinagar, Apr 4: The Kashmiri students studying in Bangalore’s prestigious Ghousia Engineering College who were arrested following clashes with their Bihari counterparts four days ago have been sent to judicial remand till April 16.
The arrests have deeply worried the students’ parents who staged massive demonstrations here Wednesday demanding immediate release of their wards.
Reports said at least 17 Kashmiri students from the Ghousia college, many of them injured, and 11 from other educational institutions of Bangalore, have been lodged in the Bangalore Central Jail.
The students of the Ghousia College Ramnagran, located 60 km from Bangalore, had a minor altercation after a senior Bihari student Zaqir Anwar reportedly abused his juniors (the Kashmiris) with an intention of ragging. “However, on April 2, four Kashmiri students of the college brought 7-8 Kashmiri students from outside the campus to avenge the harassment,” reports said.
“They assaulted Fahim and Muneer (Bihari students) with sticks and cricket bats causing minor injuries to them. Two Kashmiri students of the college were also injured,” they said.
On the complaint of the principal of the college, a case under sections 147, 148, 448 and 324) was registered against 11 Kashmiri students of the college and some unidentified persons.
On the same evening, nearly 200 Bihari students of the college, shouting slogans against the Kashmiri students blocked the traffic on Mysore-Bangalore road for nearly an hour.
Police used mild lathicharge to disperse the agitating students who’re demanding action against the Kashmiri students. Later a case was registered against the agitating students.
On the complaint of a Kashmiri student Shujaat Shahul that he and his colleagues were attacked by 13 Bihari students on April 2 near the Principal’s room after attending a compromise meeting, police registered another case under sections 143, 147, 146, 324, 506 of 149 IPC.
Following the incident, the college authorities declared five days holiday from April 3. Police launched a manhunt against four Kashmiri and some Bihar students allegedly involved in the clashes.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Ramanagran, Malika Arya Appa confirmed that 28 Kashmiri students and their Bihari counterparts have been remanded to judicial custody till April 16.
Mushtaq Ahmad who son Afaq is among the arrested said, “It is ironical that the Kashmiri students have been arrested for no fault and the Biharis who attacked them are scot-free. Bangalore police is bent upon implicating the Kashmiri students.”
Principal of the Ghousia College, Dr Muhammad Hanief blamed Kashmiri students for the clashes. “The Kashmiri students illegally entered the college with some outsiders in the evening and clashed with the Bihari students. As this was a law and order problem police rushed to the spot and arrested the trouble makers,” Dr Hanief told Greater Kashmir by phone from Bangalore.
When asked if it was not the responsibility of the college to get the students released, he said, “I can’t help. Law will take its own course.”
However, in an interview with a TV channel, Dr Hanief termed the incident as a “battle of supremacy.”
“This was not a new thing but things went a bit far this time. It happened all of a sudden; we had no other way to take the situation into control. Whoever is at fault will be punished irrespective of where they come from,” the news channel quoted him as saying.
The clashes between students from Kashmir and other north Indian states are apparently not uncommon in the Ghousia college, the news channel, monitoring the incident, reported on Wednesday.
“But the war of supremacy went a bit far on Monday evening when boys from Kashmir marched into the college premises and got into a scuffle with the north Indian students,” it said.
“The divide is evident; while unfortunately violence on campus is not rare in India, this is the first time that a situation has leapt out of control in an otherwise tolerant Bangalore,” it added.
Meanwhile, the parents of the detained students have appealed Prime Minister Manmoham Singh and Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to intervene into the matter.
“We are not demanding any roads or bridges but release of our wards,” they said.

Arrested students
The arrested students of the Ghousia College are:
Shoaib Majid, Mehboob, Afaq Ahmad Mir of Budgam, Mudassir Ahmad Mir of Pampore, Asif Ai Sofi, Ejaz, Shujaat Rasool, Hanief Ahmad of Islamabad, Tasir Sajoor Mufti of Amdakadal, Khalid Danish, Muhammad Muzamil of Varmul, Nassir Khaliq, Nayeem Hamid of Sopur, Asif Altaf of Lal Bazaar, Arshad Safi of Budgam, Yasir Amin of Batamaloo, Mirza Yasir Baig of Jammu.
The arrested students of BBM Oxford Bangalore are:
Muzamil Muhammad of Gadpura Srinagar, Khalid Bhat of Peer Bagh Cooperative Lane, Adnan Manzoor of Islamabad, Zuhaib Muhammad of Soura, Umar Ganaie of Sanat Nagar, Sartaz Ali of Lal Chowk, and Sarjeel Ahmad of Budgam.
Others:
Tousif Ahmad of Zakura (AMC Engineering College), Suhail Ahmad of Lal Bazaar (employee LE Service Bangalore), Nazeesh of Bagh-e-Mehtab (student Dayanand Sagar College Bangalore) and Inayat of Shalimar Srinagar (Radhikrishna College Bangalore).