A Kashmiri student was beaten up on Thursday in a shocking fallout of a clash between two groups comprising Indians and Afghanistan students at Sharda University in Greater Noida. Police have so far booked 350 students for indulging in rioting, according to reports. Subsequently, university authorities have decided to suspend classes till Sunday.
A police official at the Knowledge Park police station said that they have taken the suo moto cognisance of the incident and filed the FIR since no one was ready to lodge a complaint. The scuffle between Indian and Afghan students is the second such incident within a week at the varsity’s sprawling campus. On Monday, violence erupted after a video surfaced on social media purportedly showing three Afghan students at the varsity roughing up the student.
Police file FIR
A police official said that an Indian student from Kashmir was roughed up by other Indian students who is said to have posted provocative messages on a WhatsApp group favouring the Afghan students involved in the fight on Monday. “These Indian students were apparently aggrieved over the university’s lackadaisical approach on the matter,” Times Of India quoted the police official as saying.
“We have booked 350-400 students, Indians and Afghans both, and we are probing the matter. Students are being identified on the basis of the footage that has surfaced and we will soon quiz them and initiate action,” he said.
The students were booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (assault or criminal force otherwise than on grave provocation), and related offences and the FIR has been filed at the Knowledge Park police station. The police have also charged the students under Section 7 of The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1932, which pertains to any act that impedes another person from doing what they can rightfully do, using intimidation, he said.
Current situation at Sharda University in Noida
Police has also blamed the “careless” attitude of the university authorities for the incident. “The officials of the deemed university have gone careless on the matter simmering since Monday and that has led to this situation,” a senior police official told PTI. So far, there has been no official response from the university authorities on the matter. However, a meeting was held by the university authorities during which three students, who were allegedly involved in the Monday fight, were suspended. The Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) was removed later in the day while officials from the Knowledge Park and some other police stations were still deployed outside the university, he added.
History of violence?
Sharda University in Noida has a history of such incidents. First such clashes between Indian and Afghan students happened in 2013. Again on April 29, 2017, president of Student Union was allegedly beaten up by the varsity’s bouncers. In November 2017, a Nigerian student alleged that a worker of shop inside the university abused him. On March 29 this year, a Yemeni-Kenyan student alleged that he was manhandled by university bouncers.
