Times View College administrations had an opportunity to display empathy for the plight of Kashmiri students, who were unable to pay their fees owing to circumstances completely beyond their control. Instead, they chose to throw the rulebook at these students, displaying a complete lack of compassion, and making an already stressful situation for these students even more fraught. One can only hope that better sense prevails and the 'late fee' and 'attendance' rules are eased so that the students can continue their studies without any problems. There is a time to apply rules strictly, and a time to show humanity. This scenario very definitely calls for the latter.

DEHRADUN: Many Kashmiri students studying in Dehradun and parts of Punjab have alleged that their colleges charged them late fee and fined them for short attendance as they were not able to manage their academic schedule due to the clampdown in the Valley after Article 370 was revoked.The students said they were being charged "random amounts ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 12,000" for failing to submit their fee on time.The management of the colleges told TOI that "late fee is a norm that has always been in place and Kashmiri students are not specifically being targeted". However, students said that even when they had approached the administration of their institutions citing their concerns, they were asked to "either pay the fine or forget sitting in the exams".Uttarakhand cabinet minister Madan Kaushik told TOI that "the matter of harassment of Kashmiri students is a sensitive one and the Uttarakhand government will ensure that these students get all possible help and support".Late on Friday evening, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh tweeted: "Will not allow this to happen in my state. It was not the fault of the students and I will ensure that they do not suffer on account of the delay in payment of fee or attendance shortage resulting from the clampdown in Kashmir, which was never in their control."Irfan Mohammed, a student of B Tech at Maya College in Dehradun, told TOI that his late fee fine was Rs 8,000 till last week, and has been increased to Rs 12,000 by the college administration this week. "My father is a driver in Kupwara. He hasn't earned a penny since the clampdown as there is no work for him in the valley because the situation is still not normal. I am ashamed of asking money from my parents and now if I have to pay Rs 12,000, I don't know where I will get the money from."He added that he had approached the college administration for some rebate but was asked to either pay the fine or forgo the exams.Nasir Khuehami, spokesperson of the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association , claimed that like Irfan, there are over 300 Kashmiri students in Dehradun who are being asked to pay late fees and short attendance fines by the colleges. "Most of the students in Dehradun are from Uttaranchal College, Sai Institute and Maya College to name a few. The situation is almost the same in Punjab from where the J&K Students Association has received over a thousand complaints of late fee fines imposed on Kashmiri students," Khuehami alleged.Khuehami added that it was impossible for students to pay the fee on time considering that connectivity was snapped in the valley and everything had come to a standstill for many weeks. "We have made a fervent appeal to the college administrations to waive the fine and to conduct extra classes so that all topics are covered, but they are least bothered," Khuehami said, adding that the association has also urged the governments of Uttarakhand and Punjab to take action against colleges that are "harassing students in this manner."GDS Warne, managing director of Uttaranchal (PG) College in Dehradun, said that late fee and short attendance fine had been levied on students as per norms of the institution without any bias. "We have fined 27 students for depositing late fee and short attendance, among which only six are Kashmiris. So, we aren't targeting them specifically. But yes, if the students have some genuine problems and approach us regarding it, we will surely waive the fine," he added.Ashutosh Badola, HR head of Maya College, and Himanshu Kumar from Sai Institute denied that students of their respective institutions had ever approached them regarding this issue.Kunal Kant, admission associate from Desh Bhagat University in Chandigarh, said that "no student hailing from Kashmir was charged late fee".