Politicising NIT affair

Mohsin Manzoor Janwari

The writing on the NIT Srinagar institute wall is quite clear. Even a T-20-cricket match between other than India and Pakistan can also become a political statement and a mode of rebellion against India. It is believed that most of Kashmiri “sentiment” is engrained deeply with the Pakistani cricket team after partition; but local Kashmiri students support for team playing against India in recent T20 series sounded “enemies-enemy is-a-friend” to non-local NIT students. This triggered their clashes with local students followed by furling of Indian and Pakistani flag respectively. After BJP rose to power, the premier education institutes are becoming a driving seat to emanate wave of polarisation to divide students on thick lines of nationalism. We all know cricket is meant to be a gentleman’s game and if we are at war over the teams win then we are too stupid about what we are watching. But such predisposition fails here when cricket is permeated in politics of resistance!

While unfolding the history pages of four years at NIT Srinagar, I remember much more intense incidents that took place during the unrest in Valley during 2009. The whole valley was on boil and clashes erupted inside the campus too. The Kashmiri students were compelled to sleep in a college mosque for the whole night. There was a threat of their safety from non-local students followed by sending them back to their homes in order to maintain peace. Tempers clamped down soon and college was reopened . Tussle between local and non-local student is not a new inside the campus as students of different ideologies and culture live under same roof. Arguments and fights are part and parcel of college life but such incidents never faced media hype but subsided immediately. Why it snowballed into other JNU episode now? BJP is known for flaring up of communal tension for their vote bank politics and non-local students at NIT Srinagar find an apple ripe to make mountain out of mole hill relevant here with HRD ministry full backing. It is good HRD minister Smriti Irani took the case so seriously that she sent a team to Hazratbal to investigate the case and ensured safety of non-local students. But how many times did she send teams to investigate the incidents when Kashmiri students were beaten up in several other parts of the country. Does not it reflect sheer hypocrisy on her part?
The local and non-local students have different sentiments about nationalism. Both should understand and cherish each other’s sentiment. Both groups have grown up and lived under different circumstances. Institute is the best place to educate one other about their grievances and aspirations. The local students are born amidst the sound of bullets in one hand and books on the other hand. They have witnessed years of turmoil and such incidents may be indirect catharsis of their anger. The non-local students should understand their plight instead of feeling betrayal and treason on their part by supporting a rival team. On the other hand, non-local students are always welcomed to Valley for their studies as Kashmiris should be in other institutes of the country.
The worst part of such incidents is that it provides catalyst to the bad image of Kashmiri students and employees working outside Kashmir. The way media flares up the issue and decide the culprit before the investigation damages the image of Kashmiris living in other parts of the country. There are umpteen of incidents wherein Kashmiri students were beaten up harshly from the time NDA came to power. Kashmiri muslims are denied flats in Delhi and such episodes vitiate our image further. The working in MNC, private companies or PSUs will turn into another battle for us. Questions will be asked about our nationality and will culminate into chanting “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”. It is true that non-local students at NIT Srinagar have upper hand in the college due their number. In this vicious circle, the local students if proven guilty of misconduct of institution norms face termination from the institute, while non-locals could get life threats while moving out of the institute.
The last but not the least, the premier engineering institute is a hub for new ideas, creativity, research and learning. Politicising such events erodes its foundation. Our institutes should have come in limelight in the field research, innovation and technology but not on violence and intolerance. While several politicians are fetching political mileage and vote bank by such incidents, let us join hands to stop such incidents to happen again in our colleges. Let NIT Srinagar make news in fields of technology and research for what it is meant to be. Let us spread peace in diversity of thought and culture. Let us understand each other’s sentiments instead of going at loggerhead. The life is tough ahead and competition is very stiff. We stand nowhere at national and international ranking. We cannot compare ourselves with other NITs let alone be IITs. The onus lies on college administration to strive hard to put NIT Srinagar name at top and tacking such situation with wit and wisdom. These heinous incidents sabotage the integrity of institutes which are meant to impart quality education and research.

(Mohsin Manzoor Janwari has done B.Tech from NIT Srinagar and M.tech from IIT Delhi and has four years working experience with RITES under Ministry of Indian Railways)