A university in Uttar Pradesh has packed off 67 students from Kashmir to their homes for celebrating Pakistan's victory over India in a cricket match on Sunday.
A university in Uttar Pradesh has packed off 67 students from Kashmir to their homes for celebrating Pakistan's victory over India in a cricket match on Sunday.
Top officials have ordered an inquiry into the matter.
Vice-chancellor of Swami Vivekanand Subharti University (SVSU) Dr Manzoor Ahmad said "he was taken aback by such an unacceptable gesture of a few students" to media.
On Sunday night, a group of local and Kashmiri students were watching India-Pakistan cricket match in the hall of the varsity's Madan Dhingra Hostel.
Some Kashmiri students clapped every time an Indian player's wicket fell, and later celebrated the Pakistan win.
He said the authorities initially decided to suspend only those students who had shouted slogans.
"The students were suspended for creating a ruckus on campus and shouting pro-Pakistan slogans, which caused tension on the campus," said RK Garg, the university registrar to NDTV.
The varsity authorities were expecting the students to apologise. But when that did not happen leading to students suspension.
The authorities had reported the matter to the police after realising anger was brewing among the local students living in other hostels, which could escalate the tensions.
More than 200 girls and boys from different parts of Jammu and Kashmir are pursuing various courses in the university.
The decision to suspend the students was taken by the varsity authorities without consulting the police or the district administration, the SSP said.
"There was a big confrontation and non-Kashmiri students had vandalised the rooms of our wards," a parent told Kashmir's largest circulated English daily, Greater Kashmir.
Another newspaper, Kashmir Reader, quoted Irfan Ahmad Rather, a BTech student at the varsity, saying, "We clapped when Pakistan won the match. This infuriated the local students and they went on a rampage, damaged the hall, hurled abuses at us and threatened to beat us."
In a signed letter released to the media, the group said that sending the students to Kashmir was a good step as it avoided any untoward incident. "There was a heated argument between some students but most students are innocent, so we think college did a good thing by sending them to valley in order to avoid any clashes," said a parent.
Officials said it was necessary to remove the students "as a precaution" as the situation was volatile. They said they feared the violence would spread to other parts of Meerut town, which is known to be communally sensitive.
The suspended students were reportedly escorted by police and university officials to Ghaziabad, about an hour's drive away. Some of them have returned to Jammu and Kashmir and others are staying with friends, hoping to return to the university soon.
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