Sedition case filed against 2 Kashmiri students in AMU
ALIGARH : Two Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) scholars from Jammu and Kashmir were booked for sedition on Friday for allegedly raising anti-national slogans during a prayer meeting that they tried to hold in memory of a Hizbul Mujahideen militant killed in Kashmir a day earlier.
Wasim Ayub Malik and Abdul Haseeb Mir were among the students of AMU who had attempted to organise ‘namaz-e-janaza’ (funeral prayer) on the campus on Thursday in memory of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Manan Wani, who was shot dead in an encounter in Handwara.
Wani was a research scholar in the geology department of AMU. He was rusticated from the university in January after it was revealed that he had joined Hizbul Mujahedeen for terrorist activities in Kashmir, the AMU spokesman said.
“Wasim Ayub Malik and Abdul Haseeb Mir are from biochemistry and history department and their details are being sought from the AMU administration,” said Ajay Kumar Sahni, SSP, Aligarh.
The case was registered under Sections 147, 148, 124A, 153A, 153B, 504 and 506 of the Indian Penal code and action would follow as per law, he added. Section 124A relates to sedition and is imposed on those found involved in anti-national activities.
“A terrorist was shot down in
an encounter with the army in J&K and there were reports about a prayer meeting (namaz-ejanaza) being held for him in the university. Besides, a video has surfaced wherein few students are seen raising anti-national slogans seeking ‘azadi’. On the basis of this, in-charge of Civil Lines police station has registered a case,” said Sahni.
“Wasim Ayub Malik and Abdul Haseeb Mir are named while others are unidentified but involved in raising anti-national slogans. The video is being examined so that others are identified and action is taken,” stated the SSP.
Earlier, the AMU initiated disciplinary action against nine students for attempting to organise the funeral prayer on the campus in memory of MananWani.
The university administration claimed that the ‘unlawful assembly’ was not allowed to happen and show-cause notice was issued to these students.
“National interest is topmost priority for AMU and thus some students’ efforts to organise ‘unlawful assembly’ on Thursday were foiled,” stated Shafey Kidwai, spokesperson, AMU.
“The AMU is not going to tolerate such activities on the campus and the CCTV footages are being gathered. On basis of this, disciplinary action has been initiated against nine students for their role in making efforts to hold such a meeting,” stated Kidwai. AMUSU PRESIDENT’S TAKE AMU Students’ Union president Mashkoor Ahmed Usmani stated that students had zero tolerance for terrorism. “About two dozen Kashmiri students had called for a condolence meeting, but it was not held because it was not justified,” he stated.
“If Wani was a terrorist, we welcome army action. But this issue should not be linked with AMU,” said Usmani while seeking probe whether Wani was a terrorist.