Several Kashmiri students in Indian colleges were attacked Sunday night for raising Azadi slogans and cheering when the Pakistan cricket team scored runs against India.
Millions across the globe watched Pakistan take on arch-rivals India in a blockbuster T20 World Cup clash last night. Babar Azam’s squad thrashed India by 10 wickets in the match.
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According to Indian media reports, several students of the Bhai Gurdas Institute of Engineering and Technology in Indian Punjab’s Sangrur district were thrashed in their hostel rooms by students from UP and Haryana.
A similar incident also took place at the Rayat Bahrat University in Kharar.
Students from the Bhai Gurdas Institute of Engineering and Technology shared videos of several students being assaulted by the students from UP.
“Kashmiri students who were assaulted in Sangrur and Kharar Mohali told me that they were rescued by the locals and other Punjabi students. Students from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana had barged into their rooms, thrashed them and went on a rampage,” Nasir Khuehami, the national spokesperson J&K Students Association, said.
A video posted by one of the students of the Sangrur college alleged that a security guard allowed students from UP to enter the rooms of Kashmiri students and thrash them.
Police arrived on the scene and spoke to the Kashmiri students to get to the bottom of the matter.
A senior police official that 90 Kashmiri students stay in the college, where around 30 students from UP and Bihar also study.
“The Kashmiri students stay in two wings of the hostel. While the match was on, the students cheered when Pakistan was hitting runs. They also raised Azadi slogans,” said the police officer.
The students from UP and Bihar went into the rooms of the Kashmiri students after the match ended and were involved in a scuffle with them, said police, adding that later, the Kashmiri students started a brawl with the students from UP and Bihar.
“The police and college authorities pacified things overnight,” he said.
Swapan Sharma, SSP Sangrur district, said the issue had been settled, adding that both sides had apologised to each other in police and college authorities’ presence.
According to reports, at least 4 students were assaulted and beaten in Kharar Mohali after the India-Pakistan match.
“All the students are from Rayat Bahrat University. They said that they were hit by several goons from Haryana,” Khuehami said.
Nasir Khuehami demanded action against the students from Bihar and UP who attacked the Kashmiris, adding that he had been told that “that students from Bihar had hit them [Kashmiri students], vandalised the rooms, damaged the hall, and even abused and beat up a few others.”
