They Beat Me In School Because I Am Kashmiri
On March 2, 2014, as Pakistan defeated India in a cricket match during the Asia Cup, the usual cheering for Pakistan brought a heavy price for Kashmiri students in mainland India.
This ‘grave crime’—cheering for a foreign team playing against India—led the management to expel 66 Kashmiri students from the College of Swami Vivekanand Subharti University of Meerut, on the outskirts of New Delhi, in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP).
UP is the most powerful state in the Indian union. It is the base of the Hindi-speaking ruling elite of India. The nation’s federal capital, New Delhi, is located within this state.
In recent years, UP has become notorious for other things, like the astronomical rise in Hindu extremist groups, and the embarrassing rise in rape cases against Indian women and foreign tourists.
Gulzar Ahmed, one of the 66 students expelled from the Meerut college, said that he and his colleagues did not do anything wrong. In fact, local Indian students attacked the Kashmiri students with stones and verbal abuse after the match. The college administration, in Gulzar’s words, instead of taking action against the attacking Indian students, took the Kashmiri students to a local bus stand and told them to leave for Kashmir.
Not only expulsion. The Kashmiri students were charged with sedition, an offense punishable with lifetime imprisonment under Indian law. Massive protests erupted in Kashmir against the sedition charges. Things became too hot for the Indian occupation army to handle, which pressured the Indian government to drop the sedition charges later.
According to reports in Indian newspapers and TV channels, the act of attacking Kashmiri students rooting for Pakistan in a sporting event was the brainchild of Indian extremist groups, which have seen a meteoric rise in the first decade of this century. This is one reason the attacks did not stop.
In a separate incident, three Kashmiri students were beaten up at a private university in Noida, named Noida International University and were forced to shout anti-Pakistan slogans. It happened inside a hostel for B-Tech students. Six Indian students from different private colleges entered the building, barged into the rooms of Kashmiri students, and physically assaulted them. The Kashmiri victims said the Indian attackers were drunk. Before the physical assault, the Indian attackers asked the victims to confirm their Kashmiri identity. This was followed by a demand that the Kashmiris chant ‘India Zindabad’ (Long Live India) and Pakistan Murdabad (Death to Pakistan). The Indian attackers called the Kashmiris ‘terrorists’. After the incident, other Kashmiri students in the institution came out protesting against the attacks. Here, again, the university management sent them packing back to Kashmir citing security reasons.
The next incident is horrific simply because it proves that a Kashmiri student is not safe in India even if he or she do not show any sympathy for Pakistan, which seems to be the reason behind the attacks on Kashmiris in Indian educational institutions.
The worst incident took place in June 2014 in Ghaziabad, UP, when a Kashmiri student was beaten up by fellow Indian students just because he shouted after getting an electric shock in the washroom. The victim, Mohammad Omar, a Kashmiri student of B-Tech first year at HR Institute was using the toilet in the hostel where he became exposed to an electric shock. As he cried for help, fellow Indian students came and asked why he was shouting. They complained the Kashmiri student disturbed their study time. A misunderstanding ensued and the Indian students physically assaulted the Kashmiri. This resulted in a clash in which 50 Kashmiri students were injured inside this Indian educational institute.
The recent incident where the Vikram University Vice Chancellor Prof Jawarlal Kaul was beaten by activists belonging to the student wings of VHP and Bajrang Dal, just because of the fact that he had appealed for donations to help the Kashmiri flood victims, speaks volumes about the level of intolerance and hatred in the Indian society against Kashmiris.
According to the details of the incident, 15 men belonging to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal have been arrested on account of attacking the vice chancellor Jawahar Lal Kaul of the Ujjain’s Vikram University. Reportedly the vice chancellor had asked for help for the latest Kashmiri flood victims. After the incident the police arrested some of the identified men. One of the arrested leader of Bajrang Dal Hemant Singh said that they object to the statement by the VC that Hindu families here should not take house rent from the Kashmiri students who have been affected by flooding in Kashmir.
Height of shame is that India has not tendered any public apology in this regard nor is any sort of regret been expressed. The Government of India has not taken ample measures either for the prevention of such incidents in future. The above stated recurring events are a testimony of the fact.
Why Kashmiri Students Are Attacked In Indian Schools?
India approached the United Nations in 1947 and sought the international organization’s intervention in resolving the dispute over Kashmir with Pakistan. Later, India reneged and forcibly annexed Kashmir into India. This led to the birth of a Kashmiri resistance movement. This movement is so robust even after seven decades that more than half a million Indian troops are stationed in the Kashmir Valley to keep the peace. Most Kashmiris have sympathies with Pakistan. And almost all agree they are not Indians and do not want to be part of India.
What Do The Attacks On Students Say About India’s Government?
These were not isolated incidents but there is a pattern of a systematic discrimination that Kashmiris face under Indian rule. Students are a particular target in this regard. This is something that makes this occupation the most brutal in the world. Kashmiri students who want to pursue education abroad, including in Pakistan, are denied Indian travel documents, forcing them to study in schools in nearby India.
Targeting college-age students of an occupied territory is a behavior not seen in other similar disputes around the world, like Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq. The Israelis in Palestinian territories did not bar Palestinian students from pursuing education inside and outside their territories. The Gaza Strip, with a population of around 1.5 million, has eight universities. The West Bank has 15 universities for a population of around 1.8 million. By comparison, Indian-occupied Kashmir, with a population of roughly 13 million has only 8 universities run fully or partially by the occupation administration.
The denial of travelling documents shuts the door of any international venue of higher education for them. As a last resort they have to take admission in mainland India and there they become subject to the bias and discrimination of India.
One of the major factors of this barbarity against the Kashmiri students is the increasing religious extremism within the student wings of Indian political parties. The BJP of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been accused of inciting violence against Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Dalits in India. Similarly Vishva Hindu Parishad and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have a record of inciting violence against the minorities in India. In January 2015, US President Barack Obama expressed alarm at the rising religious extremism in Gandhi’s India, and the sharp increase in forcible conversions into Hinduism of Indian Christians and Muslims.
What India Should Do To Stop Attacks On Kashmir Students?
The responses of the Government of India in the aftermath of the attacks on Kashmiri students have been inadequate and lacked sensitivity.
India should:
- Publicly and clearly condemn Indian extremists who have attacked Kashmiri students
- Take legal action against Indian political parties who’s student wings were found involved in physically assaulting Kashmiri students
- Outlaw hate speech and incitement to violence against Kashmiris in general, and Kashmiri students in particular
- Adequately compensate Kashmiri students for what the physical injuries as well as the mental anguish they underwent as a result of the actions of Indian extremists
- Publicly and clearly pledge to protect all Kashmiri students studying in Indian schools and colleges
- Relax restrictions on the grant of travel documents to Kashmiri students in the occupied territory.
They Beat Me In School Because I Am Kashmiri
On March 2, 2014, as Pakistan defeated India in a cricket match during the Asia Cup, the usual cheering for Pakistan brought a heavy price for Kashmiri students in mainland India.
This ‘grave crime’—cheering for a foreign team playing against India—led the management to expel 66 Kashmiri students from the College of Swami Vivekanand Subharti University of Meerut, on the outskirts of New Delhi, in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP).
UP is the most powerful state in the Indian union. It is the base of the Hindi-speaking ruling elite of India. The nation’s federal capital, New Delhi, is located within this state.
In recent years, UP has become notorious for other things, like the astronomical rise in Hindu extremist groups, and the embarrassing rise in rape cases against Indian women and foreign tourists.
Gulzar Ahmed, one of the 66 students expelled from the Meerut college, said that he and his colleagues did not do anything wrong. In fact, local Indian students attacked the Kashmiri students with stones and verbal abuse after the match. The college administration, in Gulzar’s words, instead of taking action against the attacking Indian students, took the Kashmiri students to a local bus stand and told them to leave for Kashmir.
Not only expulsion. The Kashmiri students were charged with sedition, an offense punishable with lifetime imprisonment under Indian law. Massive protests erupted in Kashmir against the sedition charges. Things became too hot for the Indian occupation army to handle, which pressured the Indian government to drop the sedition charges later.
According to reports in Indian newspapers and TV channels, the act of attacking Kashmiri students rooting for Pakistan in a sporting event was the brainchild of Indian extremist groups, which have seen a meteoric rise in the first decade of this century. This is one reason the attacks did not stop.
In a separate incident, three Kashmiri students were beaten up at a private university in Noida, named Noida International University and were forced to shout anti-Pakistan slogans. It happened inside a hostel for B-Tech students. Six Indian students from different private colleges entered the building, barged into the rooms of Kashmiri students, and physically assaulted them. The Kashmiri victims said the Indian attackers were drunk. Before the physical assault, the Indian attackers asked the victims to confirm their Kashmiri identity. This was followed by a demand that the Kashmiris chant ‘India Zindabad’ (Long Live India) and Pakistan Murdabad (Death to Pakistan). The Indian attackers called the Kashmiris ‘terrorists’. After the incident, other Kashmiri students in the institution came out protesting against the attacks. Here, again, the university management sent them packing back to Kashmir citing security reasons.
The next incident is horrific simply because it proves that a Kashmiri student is not safe in India even if he or she do not show any sympathy for Pakistan, which seems to be the reason behind the attacks on Kashmiris in Indian educational institutions.
The worst incident took place in June 2014 in Ghaziabad, UP, when a Kashmiri student was beaten up by fellow Indian students just because he shouted after getting an electric shock in the washroom. The victim, Mohammad Omar, a Kashmiri student of B-Tech first year at HR Institute was using the toilet in the hostel where he became exposed to an electric shock. As he cried for help, fellow Indian students came and asked why he was shouting. They complained the Kashmiri student disturbed their study time. A misunderstanding ensued and the Indian students physically assaulted the Kashmiri. This resulted in a clash in which 50 Kashmiri students were injured inside this Indian educational institute.
The recent incident where the Vikram University Vice Chancellor Prof Jawarlal Kaul was beaten by activists belonging to the student wings of VHP and Bajrang Dal, just because of the fact that he had appealed for donations to help the Kashmiri flood victims, speaks volumes about the level of intolerance and hatred in the Indian society against Kashmiris.
According to the details of the incident, 15 men belonging to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal have been arrested on account of attacking the vice chancellor Jawahar Lal Kaul of the Ujjain’s Vikram University. Reportedly the vice chancellor had asked for help for the latest Kashmiri flood victims. After the incident the police arrested some of the identified men. One of the arrested leader of Bajrang Dal Hemant Singh said that they object to the statement by the VC that Hindu families here should not take house rent from the Kashmiri students who have been affected by flooding in Kashmir.
Height of shame is that India has not tendered any public apology in this regard nor is any sort of regret been expressed. The Government of India has not taken ample measures either for the prevention of such incidents in future. The above stated recurring events are a testimony of the fact.
Why Kashmiri Students Are Attacked In Indian Schools?
India approached the United Nations in 1947 and sought the international organization’s intervention in resolving the dispute over Kashmir with Pakistan. Later, India reneged and forcibly annexed Kashmir into India. This led to the birth of a Kashmiri resistance movement. This movement is so robust even after seven decades that more than half a million Indian troops are stationed in the Kashmir Valley to keep the peace. Most Kashmiris have sympathies with Pakistan. And almost all agree they are not Indians and do not want to be part of India.
What Do The Attacks On Students Say About India’s Government?
These were not isolated incidents but there is a pattern of a systematic discrimination that Kashmiris face under Indian rule. Students are a particular target in this regard. This is something that makes this occupation the most brutal in the world. Kashmiri students who want to pursue education abroad, including in Pakistan, are denied Indian travel documents, forcing them to study in schools in nearby India.
Targeting college-age students of an occupied territory is a behavior not seen in other similar disputes around the world, like Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq. The Israelis in Palestinian territories did not bar Palestinian students from pursuing education inside and outside their territories. The Gaza Strip, with a population of around 1.5 million, has eight universities. The West Bank has 15 universities for a population of around 1.8 million. By comparison, Indian-occupied Kashmir, with a population of roughly 13 million has only 8 universities run fully or partially by the occupation administration.
The denial of travelling documents shuts the door of any international venue of higher education for them. As a last resort they have to take admission in mainland India and there they become subject to the bias and discrimination of India.
One of the major factors of this barbarity against the Kashmiri students is the increasing religious extremism within the student wings of Indian political parties. The BJP of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been accused of inciting violence against Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Dalits in India. Similarly Vishva Hindu Parishad and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have a record of inciting violence against the minorities in India. In January 2015, US President Barack Obama expressed alarm at the rising religious extremism in Gandhi’s India, and the sharp increase in forcible conversions into Hinduism of Indian Christians and Muslims.
What India Should Do To Stop Attacks On Kashmir Students?
The responses of the Government of India in the aftermath of the attacks on Kashmiri students have been inadequate and lacked sensitivity.
India should:
- Publicly and clearly condemn Indian extremists who have attacked Kashmiri students
- Take legal action against Indian political parties who’s student wings were found involved in physically assaulting Kashmiri students
- Outlaw hate speech and incitement to violence against Kashmiris in general, and Kashmiri students in particular
- Adequately compensate Kashmiri students for what the physical injuries as well as the mental anguish they underwent as a result of the actions of Indian extremists
- Publicly and clearly pledge to protect all Kashmiri students studying in Indian schools and colleges
- Relax restrictions on the grant of travel documents to Kashmiri students in the occupied territory.
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