Mob attacks Valley students in Haryana, three arrested
ASSAULT The two were beaten up while returning to the college campus after offering Friday prayers, J&K leaders demand probe
: Three persons were arrested on Saturday over the assault on two Kashmiri students in Haryana’s Mahendargarh district hours after Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti took serious exception to the incident and demanded a probe.
The two students of Central University of Haryana (CUH) were thrashed by a group near the university in Janti-Pali village on Friday when they were returning to the campus after offering prayers at a mosque.
Mahendragarh SP Kamaldeep Goyal said on the basis of a CCTV footage police identified six persons involved in the incident. While three were arrested , efforts were on to nab the others, Goyal said. “The interrogation of the arrestees is going on. We are trying to find out why the accused attacked the students,” the SP added.
The police swung into action after Mufti urged the Haryana government to take stringent action against the perpetrators and demanded a probe into the incident.
“Shocked and disturbed to hear reports of Kashmiri students being assaulted in Mahendargarh, Haryana,” she tweeted after pictures of the students from the state’s Rajouri district with bruises all over their faces were circulated on social media.
Speaking to media the students said the attack by a group of 15-20 people was unprovoked.
“My friend and I were coming back from Mahendragarh town after offering Friday Namaz when we noticed some men following us. We did not take it seriously, since we had been living here for almost two years. But suddenly when we reached the chowk and stopped our bike, the men started thrashing us mercilessly,” said Aftab Ahmed, an MSc student at the university.
“My friend somehow managed to escape, but the group of men continued to attack me,” said Aftab Ahmed, an MSc student at the university.
“We kept asking them what has happened and what did we do but they kept beating us,’’ he added.
He said the nearby shopkeepers did not come to their rescue. “Instead of offering us any help, it seemed even the shopkeepers soon became part of the mob and joined them in thrashing us,” Ahmed said.
After reaching the university, they informed the faculty about the incident, who lodged a complaint with the police. A case against unknown men under sections 323 (voluntary causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at the Mahendragarh city police station.
The attack has made Kashmiri students anxious as they say going to Mahendragarh is unavoidable for them. “There is no market near our university and Mahendergarh is the nearest place where we go to buy our essentials. Our looks give us away, if it has happened to one student today it can happen to others as well,’’ said Rehan, another Kashmiri student studying in the university.
Rehan, however, said the University authorities were supportive.
J&K director general of police Shesh Paul Vaid also spoke to his Haryana counterpart over the incident that sparked widespread criticism in the state.
“I have spoken to Haryana DGP and he has assured that action will be taken against those involved in the attack,” Vaid said.
Former Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet and said that the incident goes against the spirit of Modi’s outreach for Kashmiris.
“This is terrible & goes against the spirit of what @PMOIndia @narendramodi ji said from the ramparts of the Red Fort. I hope the authorities in Haryana act quickly against this violence,” Abdullah tweeted.
ROHTAK/SRINAGAR
UPROAR IN ASSEMBLY
The Jammu and Kashmir assembly witnessed noisy scenes on Saturday over the assault on two Kashmiri students with several opposition members staging a walkout during the zero hour, accusing the government of failing to check such incidents.
The state government assured the House that the matter has been taken up with Haryana and three persons have been arrested in the case.
After the house assembled, BJP state president Sat Sharma drew the attention of the house to the death of three army personnel in an avalanche in Gurez sector of Bandipora district in north Kashmir and the force rescuing a civilian patient despite adverse weather condition on Friday.
“The opposition should also acknowledge the sacrifice and the rescue effort of the army... They only consider it their duty to criticise the forces,” he said.