Kashmir’s chief cleric and chairman of his faction of separatist Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday assured the parents of outstation students at the NIT-Srinagar that they are safe in
Kashmir’s chief cleric and chairman of his faction of separatist Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday assured the parents of outstation students at the NIT-Srinagar that they are safe in the Valley and would be treated “as our own flesh.”
“They are our own sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, our own flesh and I want to assure them and their parents that they are safe here in Valley,” he said in his customary post-sermon brief political speech from the pulpit of Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid. “Whatever is being witnessed on the campus of the NIT-Srinagar for the past few days is unfortunate,” he said.
The Mirwaiz further urged “few political parties and a section of Indian electronic media” not to project the happenings in a twisted manner. He saw in it a deliberate attempt to pitch Hindus versus Muslims and local students versus non-local students with a purpose to create a divide in the student community for their petty vested interests.
He said the people of Kashmir have exhibited brotherhood and tolerance is an exemplary way and added that during the past 25 years, despite suffering enormously and going through atrocities at the hands of the government and the security forces and despite being witness to the killings of their near and dear ones, they have kept their centuries’ old tradition of tolerance and brotherhood alive.
Citing examples of 2008 and 2010 summer uprisings in which dozens of youth were killed in security forces’ firings and other actions, he said no harm was done to any outsider whether tourist or otherwise who were in thousands present in the Valley at those times. “Again in the devastating floods of September 2014 when non-Kashmiris in large numbers were stuck in Srinagar it were the local youth who rescued them out from the flood waters thus proved that Kashmiris had no personal animosity against the people of India but are fighting for their just rights and against the injustices committed against them”, he asserted.
He alleged that the NIT Srinagar incidents were being blown out of proportion with an intention to create an impression that non-locals and outside-state students were not safe in Kashmir. “Some unscrupulous elements even demanded shifting of NIT, Srinagar to some other place, which is ridiculous and condemnable,” he said. Questioning political circles indulging in “cheap publicity”, the Mirwaiz asked why they did not come forward when Kashmiri students were being harassed, victimized and beaten in Rajasthan, Meerut and elsewhere in the country “Why didn’t they raise their voice when Kashmiri students were being expelled from different colleges at these places , he asked. He urged students including non locals studying in NIT Srinagar and other institutions of Jammu and Kashmir to focus on their studies “instead of getting misled by the opportunistic politicians and divisive forces”. He commended the Kashmiri students in NIT Srinagar, Kashmir University and other institutions for “showing patience and maturity and not getting provoked and instigated by the elements who want them to react negatively”. Appealing the corporate sector of Jammu and Kashmir to invest in education sector the way they were investing in construction of hotels, industries and other businesses so that more and more educational institutions could come up in Kashmir which, the Mirwaiz said, could reduce the dependence of the Kashmiri students on the educational institutions outside the state. He said it was a reality that Kashmiri students studying in various educational institutions outside the State and their parents always felt apprehensive about their safety due to the changed atmosphere in the country.
