‘Army visit to J&K school triggered student backlash’

NEW DELHI: A “visit” by the army to a south Kashmir college and social media have been blamed for student protests that rocked the Valley in April which also saw school girls throw stones at security forces.

In a report submitted to the Jammu and Kashmir government, security agencies have pointed to the role played by social media in mobilising students, official sources said.

Video clips of protests and clashes with security forces were widely shared on social media, fanning the anger.

“Intelligence inputs suggest the banned Kashmir Students Union began calling up its members in different colleges on April 15… students decided that they will hit streets Monday. That’s when it all started,” a police official, who was involved in drawing up the report, told HT.

The Valley continues to be restive. Security officers told HT they were working to avoid a repeat of the last summer.

The trigger was an April 12 clash between forces and students at Pulwama’s Government Degree College, about 35km from Srinagar.

The problem started when some army officers entered the premises in an armoured vehicle for a “meeting” with the college administration, a police officer, who has seen the report, told HT.

Students protested, suspecting that the soldiers were there to pick up someone and within minutes, turned violent.

The army vehicle had to be moved out after students started pelting stones, the official said. The next day police set up barriers outside the college to prevent a clash but students thought the barricading was to identify those who had thrown stones.

“A violent clash ensued and the police came under heavy stone pelting,” the official quoted the report as saying. “It was at this point that the police entered the college following which students were lathicharged.”

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