Teacher Fired, Students Suspended: Authorities React to People 'Supporting' Pak in T20 Match
New Delhi: Three days after Pakistan beat India in a T20 World Cup match, authorities in various parts of the country appear to have taken stringent action against those who purportedly supported Pakistan, slapping sedition charges on some and suspending others from educational institutions.
Agra
Three engineering students from Kashmir were suspended by the Raja Balwant Singh Engineering Technical Campus at Bichpuri in Agra for allegedly posting a WhatsApp status praising Pakistan players.
The suspension came after local leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party's youth wing lodged a complaint against the students at the Jagdishpura police station.
Agra City Superintendent of Police Vikas Kumar told PTI that police will take action on the basis of the complaint.
3 Kashmiri students have been suspended in an engineering college in Agra for allegedly “posting status in favour of Pakistan” after #INDvPAK T20 cricket match.
Earlier, cases under anti-terrorism laws were registered against students in #Kashmir for supporting Pakistan team. pic.twitter.com/OzwTQW1kAE
— Aakash Hassan (@AakashHassan) October 26, 2021
Dr Pankaj Gupta, director of administration and finance at the institute, said the students were suspended with immediate effect.
"The students were studying under the Prime Minister Super Special Scheme. We have also apprised the PM office and AICTE of the students' act. However, students have apologised," Gupta said.
Local head of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, Shailu Pandit, told reporters that other students informed him of that the three students had raised slogans like 'Bharat tere tukde honge' and 'Pakistan zindabad' and posted them on social media.
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"After that, I along with youth BJP leader Gaurav Rajawat, reached the college campus and enquired about the activity," said Pandit.
Shailu said the college authorities told them that they have suspended three students.
"I informed police and lodged a complaint against the students involved in the anti-national activity," he said.
Jammu
In Jammu's Samba, Indian Express reported police as having said that six or seven people had been detained from a village, Chak Manga Gujjran, on the international border, as they raised "pro-Pakistan slogans" following the Sunday match.
A video of the alleged celebration was shared multiple times, leading to protests and a police complaint.
The Samba Senior Superintendent of Police said people may be called in for "questioning" against the FIR filed.
India take on Pakistan today in the T20I cricket World Cup.
Here’s a throwback to that time four years ago when India arrested some fans for supporting Pakistan pic.twitter.com/hrqFNgUeSB
— TRT World (@trtworld) October 24, 2021
Udaipur
In Rajasthan's Udaipur, a private school teacher who shared a WhatsApp status with a photo of Pakistani players with a caption of "we won", written in Hindi, was "expelled" from her school.
Members of Hindutva outfits gathered outside the school she worked at after screenshots of her update were shared several times, Indian Express has reported.
Station House Officer of the Amba Mata Police Station, Dalpat Singh, said a case was registered against the teacher under Section 153 B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration) of the Indian Penal Code.
In a video apology aired by a local news channel, the teacher said that while watching the match her household had decided to pick teams to support and she was assigned Pakistan. "This doesn’t mean I support Pakistan. I am an Indian, I love India," she said.
Srinagar
The Wire has earlier reported how students at the Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar and Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) are on tenterhooks after Jammu and Kashmir Police registered two separate FIRs against hostel wardens, the college management and students for allegedly celebrating the Pakistani cricket team’s victory.
Sources had told The Wire that the FIRs were filed on the basis of videos, but that police is still probing the matter to find out whether the videos are fabricated or real.
On Sunday, at the Bhai Gurdas Institute of Engineering and Technology in Punjab’s Sangrur, Kashmiri students had alleged that they were assaulted and their hostel rooms ransacked after the match.
(With PTI inputs)
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