April 04, 2016 02:24:52 | Manzoor-ul-Hassan

‘They beat and abused me when I refused to chant Bharat Mata ki Jai’



A 20-year-old courier boy received serious arm and head injuries after he was severely thrashed by a group of non-Kashmiri students inside National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar campus on Friday for refusing to chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.



Imtiyaz Ahmad Sheikh of Karan Nagar area in Srinagar, who is working with a local courier company, told Rising Kashmir that a group of non-local students stopped him inside NIT campus and beat him to pulp as he refused to obey them. Imtiyaz had gone to NIT to deliver parcel of the students.

“They stopped me and asked me to stand on a chair and chant Bharat Mata ki Jai. When I refused to obey them, they beat me to the pulp and hit me with a cricket bat and broken glass,” he said.

“The students also hurled choicest abuses on me and cornered me in a lawn where no one came to my support. After the continuous beating, I felt unconscious and opened my eyes inside hospital ward,” Imtiyaz said.

He said the severe beating was a nightmare for him which he would never be able to forget in his life.

“I was bleeding. I was in extreme pain. The police did not pay move an inch and witnessed the scene as a mute spectators,” said Sheikh.

Sheikh said Police even did not register FIR.

“After I was discharged from SKIMS Soura, I went to Nigeen police station to register a complaint against the students who beat me. Although, SHO assured me that he would register the FIR but he refused to give me a copy of the same. I think police wants to hush up the case,” he told Rising Kashmir.

He said he can identify the students who beat him and he delivers them parcel regularly.

“I’m in complete shock as why they vent their anger on me even as I was not their rival,” he said.

“If their favorite team lost the match how am I responsible?” he asked.

He appealed to the police to register FIR under Article 307 (attempt to murder) against the culprits.

The celebration of the Kashmiri students over team India's defeat against the West Indies in the World Cup T20 semi-final in Mumbai didn’t go well with the non-local students which sparked off clashes between them inside NIT campus on Friday. The authorities were compelled to close the institute until further notice.

The local students had also burst fire crackers late Thursday night to celebrate West Indies win. The reports of such celebration also came in from other part of Kashmir Valley.

(muhassan@risingkashmir.com)