GK NEWS NETWORK
Jammu, Oct 2: Notwithstanding Center’s repeated advisories to all Indian states and Union Territories (UTs), a group of around sixty students and members of NGOs from Jammu and Kashmir were allegedly singled out and harassed at a function to celebrate Gandhi Jayanti in New Delhi on Sunday.
 Around 60 students from various degree colleges and members of NGOs from JK, who had assembled outside 5-Tees January Marg New Delhi to take part in the cultural event on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary, were allegedly manhandled and even not allowed to enter the Ghandian Samriti Complex, the venue for the cultural function.
 To protest the “unnecessary” harassment and alleged manhandling of JK students, the members of NGOs and students from other North-Eastern states also boycotted the function and refused to perform in the cultural event.
 Some female students from Jammu and Kashmir became unconscious and were even denied the medical attention, participants told Greater Kashmir, over phone from New Delhi.
 The Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh was supposed to be the chief guest on the occasion. Tara Gandhi, grand daughter of Mahatma Gandhi also witnessed the harassment and ill-treatment meted out to students from Jammu and Kashmir, students alleged.
 “We had been asked to come in cultural dresses. We were ill-treated by security agencies. They did not allow us to enter the complex citing security reasons,” Babbar Hasnain, a Part-III student of GDC Bhaderwah told Greater Kashmir over phone from Delhi.
 Babbar said the students showed their identity cards issued by the Gandhi Samriti and Darshan Samiti, an organization working for disseminating the philosophy and ideology of Mahatma Gandhi, to the security personnel deployed outside the Complex but they did not respect these cards and asked for more identification.
 “The students also showed their identity cards issued by the college authorities but they again declined to respect these cards and asked the teacher in-charge to give in writing to take the responsibility of all the students and members from Jammu and Kashmir,” he alleged.
 Students said that they fail to understand what went wrong with the security personnel even after they showed their identity cards. “We were singled out. Following humiliation we decided to boycott the function,” he maintained.
 He claimed that over 200 students from Manipur, Assam Nagaland, Sikkim and other states also boycotted the function to protest the ill-treatment meted out students from Jammu and Kashmir.
  “We also staged a peaceful dharna outside the complex for half-an-hour but nobody turned to pay attention to our grievances. Gandhiji preached non-violence throughout his life but such harassment and ill-treatment force youth to take path of violence,” student said.
 He said the students preferred to board the bus and return to the state as security personnel could harass them in case they highlighted their plight before the media in New Delhi.
 Pertinently, in February 2011, the Centre had issued advisory to all states and Union Territories (UTs) for “exercising utmost sensitivity while making inquiries about residents of Jammu and Kashmir” and not to single them out "unnecessarily" for police frisking.
 The advisory was issued in order to protect Kashmiris from being harassed unnecessarily. The issue had been raised repeatedly by the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah during his meetings with Union Home Minister P Chidambaram.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 2 Oct 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 2 Oct 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 3 Oct 2011 00:00:00 IST