Srinagar: Kashmiri students studying at the Jawaharlal Nehru University on Tuesday extended their support and expressed solidarity with their counterparts in Aligarh Muslim University.

The students said that the AMU Kashmiri students have been made victims of unfair and biased media trail and arbitrary action by AMU University administration.

“Despite the Kashmiri students having exercised maximum restraint in the given situation in their university, the disciplinary and legal action against the Kashmiri students in AMU is arbitrary and uncalled for. We commend the brave response of the Kashmiri student community of AMU who have stood strong, in unity, against discriminatory attitude of the AMU authorities who instead of standing by its students have chosen to victimize the students,” a statement issued by the Kashmiri students of AMU said.

“The students said that criminalization of a gathering of students of a certain identity is nothing but an act of deliberate targeting and maltreating of that community of students to isolate them and make them more vulnerable in the hostile environment of the university. “The pressing of charges of sedition and orders of suspension against the Kashmiri students in AMU for merely meeting amongst themselves and discussing a situation arising back at home speaks volumes how academic lives of Kashmiris pursuing studies in Indian universities come under continued unwarranted harassment and persecution.

“The students said that such conduct by administration is a clear case of arbitrary use of power and bowing down of academia in front of biased and venomous TRP hungry media houses who have been crossing their limits of ethical journalism to demonize Kashmiris wherever possible. “This attitude of the administration has led to risking of the careers of thousands of Kashmiri students enrolled in AMU.

“The Kashmiri student community of JNU, the statement said, demanded immediate revocation of the suspension order and the withdrawal of the sedition charges against the Kashmiri students of AMU. “The administration should also take responsibility of creating amicable conditions for the Kashmiri students in AMU in order to prevent further isolation of the Kashmiri students in the varsity and ensure that the students do not face further harassment in view of the hostile environment and students are able to continue their studies without having to fear for their lives.

“The students reiterated theoirdemand of withdrawal of the suspension order and sedition charges against Kashmiri students in AMU or else we will be forced to take recourse to remedies, legal and otherwise, to stand by our counterparts of AMU.”