Clash ahead of India-Pak match leaves Kashmiri students hurt

The tussle between Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri students over an India-Pakistan cricket match in Meerut seems to have started a chain reaction.

The tussle between Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri students over an India-Pakistan cricket match in Meerut seems to have started a chain reaction.

A Srinagar-based news agency said at least 12 Kashmiri students sustained injuries after trouble erupted before Friday congregational prayers at a university in Rajasthan. The trigger was India’s T20 World Cup match against Pakistan in Bangladesh scheduled later in the day.

Quoting students from Mewar University, Global News Service said that the brawl began with an argument when they were preparing for Friday prayers. “The situation turned hostile after 30-40 local students thrashed four of us,” a BTech student from Kashmir, seeking anonymity, told GNS on phone.

He added: “One student fell unconscious following the assault and was taken to the hostel room. In the meantime, residents of the area joined the local students in pelting stones on the Kashmiris.”

Chittorgarh district superintendent of police Prasan Kumar confirmed the ‘minor’ clash between local students and hostellers in the afternoon. “A small verbal spat between a local student and a hosteller from Kashmir led to stone pelting on the college campus. No one received serious injuries,” he said.

More than 300 Kashmiri students study at the university in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh district. They were selected through a prime minister’s scholarship scheme.