Three Kashmiri students from a private university in India’s Greater Noida city of Uttar Pradesh were allegedly beaten up and forced to shout pro-Indian and anti-Pakistani statements at the common hostel they were staying at, according to a report on The Hindustan Times website. At least six students, who were allegedly intoxicated, forced their way into the room of the Kashmiri students attacking them and made them shout anti-Pakistan slogans. Around 150 students staged protests on Monday, claiming that their university administration and local police had turned a deaf ear to their grievances and had failed to respond on time to their complaints when the incident took place.
Even though the targeted students all belonged to Kashmir, the university administrations tried to play down the tone of the incident alleging there was no ethnic or regional context.
The incident is reminiscent of a similar incident in March when 67 students from Kashmir were expelled and charged with sedition following a clash over alleged support for Pakistan during the Indo-Pak Asia Cup cricket clash.
The sedition charges were later dropped.
