NIT students meet Rajnath, Irani over campus unrest, demand relocation

Students from National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Srinagar met Union home minister Rajnath Singh and HRD minister Smriti Irani to demand relocation of the institute outside Srinagar.

Students from National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Srinagar met Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday, seeking assurance over security on the campus.

NIT Srinagar students met Union home minister Rajnath Singh and HRD minister Smriti Irani in New Delhi on Wednesday over the unrest in the campus in Srinagar. (HT Photo)

They also met human resource development minister Smriti Irani to demand relocation of the institute outside Srinagar. The minister, however, denied the request, the students said.

A group of around 200 students from NIT staged a protest at Jantar Mantar, reiterating their demand for the institute to be shifted out of Srinagar.

Tension started brewing inside the NIT campus, located on the banks of Dal lake in Jammu and Kashmir, on March 31 after India lost to West Indies in semi-final of the T-20 World Cup cricket tournament prompting some local students to rejoice and burst fire crackers. The incident led to protests by outstation students, resulting in clashes between the two groups. On Tuesday, J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti had dismissed the possibility of shifting NIT out of the Valley.