October 28, 2021
The official Twitter handle of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced on Thursday that anyone found supporting Pakistan will face sedition charges. A still from the match.
Fearful of the action, other J&K students enrolled at Agra college leave for home
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Three Kashmir students who are pursuing engineering degrees in a private college in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, have been jailed and charged with sedition after police arrested them on Wednesday on allegations of cheering for Pakistan against India in a cricket match.
According to the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association, the trio Arsheed Yusuf, Inayat Altaf Sheikh and Showkat Ahmed Ganai were first booked under different sections of Indian Penal Code including 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.) and 505 (1) (B) (with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public), and IT Act after they allegedly shared content on WhatsApp in support of Pakistan but on Thursday reports emerged that the police have invoked Section 124-A (Sedition) of the IPC
The official Twitter handle of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced on Thursday that anyone found supporting Pakistan will face sedition charges.
The association had written a letter to the CM appealing for dropping the case against the students as it would hurt their career. “The action against the Kashmiri students is totally arbitrary and unwarranted,” the association said in the letter.
“The charges will have serious consequences on the academic and future career of the students. It may have serious repercussions, serious psyco-somatic consequences on the students both in the long term and short term.”
The case against the Kashmir students came following a complaint by local supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party at Jagdishpur police station in Agra. The students were arrested on Wednesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the institute, Raja Balwant Singh Engineering Technical College, where the students are enrolled announced to shut the college until action is taken against the men who forcibly barged inside the campus on Tuesday demanding action against Kahmiri students.
The developments have triggered fear among other Kashmiri students who have left the college for their homes in the valley. Under pressure from the protesters, the college authorities initially suspended the three students from the hostel but later rusticated them.
Reports of cases against four people for celebrating Pakistan victory in different parts of Uttar Pradesh have also come to fore.