HYDERABAD: A sense of insecurity has gripped the non-local students of National Institute of Technology in Srinagar with Jammu and Kashmir police intimidating them and their movements restricted to a small portion of the campus.
Though the NIT-Srinagar management gave an offer to ‘facilitate’ the shifting of students from the campus to their respective homes, it is learnt that not a single student came forward to leave the campus. “We want the NIT-Srinagar to be shifted out of here,” a fourth year student of the institute, who hails from Visakhapatnam, told Express over phone.
In a notice sent to all hostels around 1 pm on Thursday, the NIT management said, “Those students who want to leave the campus, may provide their names.”
Leaving the campus will also not affect their academics, the management assured. “Those students, who choose to leave, will be provided another opportunity to appear in Minor in lieu of the Minor, which is scheduled for April 11-14,” the notice further said.
However, no student opted to leave. “Our fight is for shifting of the campus,” the NIT student asserted.
Meanwhile, the college management urged the students to attend the classes. The management also requested the students to form a team of representatives who can discuss their grievances with the chairman, board of governors and the team from the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).
Meanwhile, J&K DGP Rajendra Kumar visited the NIT campus and assured the students of security. The CRPF and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) along with J&K Police continue to guard the campus. The protesting students once again tried to reach the main gate but were prevented by the security forces. J&K Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh too visited the campus and reportedly sought to meet a delegation of protesting students. The students, however, wanted the Dy CM to come to the fountain area. Citing security reasons, the VIP left the place.
Meanwhile, in a meeting with a team of MHRD representatives who included Sanjeev Sharma, director (technical education), Fazal Mehmood, deputy director (Finance) and MJ Zarabi, chairman of board of governors of IIT, the students reiterated their demand for shifting of NIT campus out of Srinagar. They also demanded action against police officials who had lathi-charged them. The students also wanted action against college administration.
DGP Assures Full Security to Students
DGP K Rajendra assured full security to the students. “I also spoke to students from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and they raised concerns about their safety. Some of them said they wanted to return home. We will provide them all necessary security,” he said.