1,450 non-Kashmiri students of NIT Srinagar sent back home: Govt

The government said that NIT Srinagar had facilitated the return of 1,450 non-Kashmiri students to their home towns in the wake of the unrest on the campus.

The government informed Parliament on Wednesday that National Institute of Technology (NIT), Srinagar facilitated the return of 1,450 non-Kashmiri students to their home towns in the wake of the unrest on the campus.

Students hold a protest rally to demonstrate against police action on the NIT Srinagar row, in Jammu. (PTI File Photo)

“NIT authorities facilitated the travel of 1,450 non-local students who wanted to leave the campus for their native places,” minister of state for home, Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary, said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

There are 2,500 students in NIT.

Clashes at NIT Srinagar broke out on April 1 between outstation and local students following India’s defeat to West Indies in the T-20 cricket World Cup semi-final on March 31.

“With intervention of local police and civil authorities, normalcy was restored. However, on April 5, some non-local students marched towards the exit gate and were stopped from going out of the campus by police personnel. This resulted in a scuffle and police resorted to lathicharge and fired tear gas shells in which 6-7 students were injured,” he said.

Chaudhary said the state government has ordered a magisterial enquiry and the NIT has also constituted a fact finding committee to look into the matter.

The minister said the Jammu and Kashmir government has established a 24X7 helpline at the Nageen police station in Srinagar to address students’ security concerns.

“Adequate security has been provided to the campus,” he said.