Kashmiri Students in Agra Arrested For Pro-Pak Slogans During India-Pakistan Match

29 Oct, 2021 12:45 IST|Sakshi Post

Kashmiri students are being held in judicial custody for 14 days after being charged with sedition.

India-Pakistan Match: Three Kashmiri students arrested in Agra for reportedly shouting pro-Pakistan slogans were charged with sedition on Thursday, according to Uttar Pradesh Police authorities.

An Agra court also remanded the three students, two of whom are 20 and one of them is 21, in 14-day judicial detention, according to authorities.

Some individuals allegedly heckled and pursued them as they exited the courtroom.

Meanwhile, a group of Jammu and Kashmir students demanded that the sedition charge against them be dropped by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Earlier in the day, Adityanath claimed that individuals who celebrate Pakistan's victory over India in the recent T20 World Cup match will be prosecuted under the sedition legislation.

"The three students were arrested on Wednesday after a FIR was lodged against them at the Jagdishpura police station. They were accused of raising pro-Pakistan slogans in the wake of an India-Pakistan T20 cricket match and posting celebratory messages on social media after Pakistan’s victory," a police official said.

They were brought before a magistrate's court in Agra on Thursday, where they were detained in judicial detention for 14 days, according to a source.

"The FIR was initially registered under IPC Sections 153A (promoting enmity between groups) and 505 (creating or publishing content to promote enmity). Section 124A (sedition) of the IPC was included on Friday in the case," the police official said.

The trio attends an Agra University-affiliated private college.

Some right-wing protestors heckled the students as they exited the courtroom, shouting anti-Pakistan chants.

According to recordings that have surfaced on social media, some attorneys heckled the students as they were being transported from the court to a police car.

The youngsters were taken to safety, according to the Agra police.

"The students were taken to the court in a discreet manner and were similarly taken out from there considering the sensitivity of the matter. However, some people heckled the trio on the court premises, but none was hurt. They were all safe," the police official told the media.

The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association's national spokesperson, Nasir Khuehami, requested the Uttar Pradesh chief minister to withdraw sedition charges against the students, requesting "mercy on humanitarian grounds."

They have requested that the chief minister intervene to get the sedition case and the FIR against the students dropped, he said in a statement.

"The college authorities must revoke the suspension of the students, whom we urged to focus on their studies," he said.

Mansoor Wani, a research fellow at Agra University and the accused students' mentor, said the students were young and required counselling rather than such jeering.

"We apologise on their behalf if they were involved in such an unfortunate incident. But these are young men from financially weak backgrounds. They need guidance. We will counsel them. They should not be booked under such harsh laws. It will ruin their careers," Wani added.

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