Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir have arrested seven college students beneath a stringent terror legislation for allegedly celebrating India’s defeat within the cricket World Cup finals earlier this month, drawing extreme criticism.
The scholars of Sher-e-Kashmir College of Agricultural Sciences and Expertise (SKUAST) have been booked beneath the Illegal Actions Prevention Act (UAPA), a legislation deemed draconian by a number of rights teams.
The legislation, which makes securing bail nearly unattainable, has largely been utilized by India’s Hindu nationalist authorities in opposition to political dissenters and Muslim activists.
A senior police officer in Indian-administered Kashmir informed Al Jazeera there was a face-off between the accused and a few non-local college students on November 19 as they watched a TV broadcast of India taking part in in opposition to Australia on the Narendra Modi Stadium within the western state of Gujarat.
Australia beat India by six wickets to win a record-extending sixth males’s ICC Cricket World Cup, dashing India’s hopes of a 3rd win after 1983 and 2011.
“A non-local student submitted a written complaint naming the seven Kashmiri students for abusing and threatening him and raising pro-Pakistan slogans. On the basis of the complaint, the case has been registered under the UAPA,” he stated.
The non-local college students at SKUAST’s Shuhama campus in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district allege the seven Kashmiri college students raised anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans after India misplaced the sport.
“After finishing the match they [students] started abusing me and targeting me for being a supporter of our country,” learn the criticism by the 20-year-old pupil, who has not been recognized by the police.
The seven college students have been charged with Part 13 of UAPA which offers with advocating, abetting, or inciting the fee of any illegal exercise, and Sections 505 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code which offers with intent to incite offence in opposition to some other class or neighborhood and prison intimidation.
Because the transfer to invoke terror costs in a case associated to sport was criticised, police on Tuesday issued an announcement, defending their motion.
“It is not about dissent or freedom of expression. It is about terrorising others who may be nourishing pro-India feelings or anti-Pakistan feelings,” stated the assertion.
A SKUAST official, on situation of anonymity since he was not authorised to talk to the media, informed Al Jazeera the non-local college students didn’t complain to the college administration and went on to the police.
“If the students would have approached us, we could have sorted the matter out internally. The complaint did not reach us,” he stated.
The official stated the arrested college students are of their early 20s and are finding out fourth-year Bachelor of Veterinary Science.
“Even if our children made a mistake out of emotional foolishness, the harsh charges on them should be dropped. This will ruin their lives. We are requesting the government to save their future,” a relative of one of many college students informed Al Jazeera.
Fearing reprisals from the federal government, the relative didn’t wish to be named.
It’s not the primary time Kashmiri college students have been charged in a case linked to cricket, a recreation extraordinarily well-liked within the subcontinent. India and Pakistan, which each declare the Himalayan area of Kashmir in its entirety however rule over elements of it, are additionally arch-cricketing rivals.
In October 2021, police in Indian-administered Kashmir filed prison instances beneath the identical UAPA legislation in opposition to some college students of two medical schools for allegedly celebrating Pakistan’s victory in opposition to India within the Twenty20 World Cup. The fees have been later dropped.
In one other incident in the course of the 2014 Asia Cup event, almost 60 Kashmiri college students have been suspended by a university within the northern state of Uttar Pradesh after they allegedly celebrated Pakistan’s win over India.
Anti-India sentiments within the Indian-administered Kashmir have turned extra intense since 2019 when New Delhi unilaterally scrapped its partial autonomy and introduced the area beneath its direct management.
In an announcement, the Jammu and Kashmir College students Affiliation, an area pupil physique, stated the scholars booked beneath the UAPA belong to poor households. It demanded the dropping of the costs in opposition to them.
“The UAPA charges should be withdrawn as this punishment could ruin their future,” the affiliation stated.
Mehbooba Mufti, the final elected chief minister of the area, stated the case in opposition to the scholars was “disconcerting and shocking”.
“Normalising slapping of laws like UAPA on journalists, activists and now students reveals the ruthless mindset of the establishment towards youngsters in [Kashmir),” she wrote on X, previously generally known as Twitter.
