Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have suspended the academic activities in two colleges, including the National Institute of Technology (NIT), in the capital city Srinagar on Thursday as a precautionary measure
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Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have suspended the academic activities in two colleges, including the National Institute of Technology (NIT), in the capital city Srinagar on Thursday as a precautionary measure.
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The move comes two days after NIT Srinagar protest and a day after demonstrations in other colleges in Srinagar against a non-local student's social media “blasphemous” post against prophet Muhammad (PNUH).
While officials of NIT-Srinagar declared a holiday for Thursday, Islamia College of Science and Commerce suspended all classwork and internal examinations scheduled for the day, newswire PTI reported.
Protests were held at the NIT-Srinagar on Tuesday over the student's social media post allegedly hurting religious sentiments. The protesters demanded stringent action against the non-local student who has been sent home on leave.
The students blocked both the gates of the institution, located in the Nigeen area of the city, and raised slogans inside the campus.
In the aftermath of NIT Srinagar protest, police registered a case and started an investigation. Police filed a case against the student for promoting religious enmity between communities.
Protests were also held at Amar Singh College and Islamia College in Srinagar on Wednesday against the post, videos of which were shared by many social media users.
"The police received information about a protest by students at the NIT campus. Upon investigation, it was discovered that a student had posted objectionable content on social media, though the video was not the student's own, but taken from YouTube," Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, V K Birdi said on Tuesday.
Birdi said the content of the post has hurt the religious feelings of the people.
"The police have received a written complaint from the NIT registrar urging legal action. We have taken legal action under relevant sections of the law. The investigation is going on," the IGP had said.
On Wednesday, in the meanwhile, Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulama Jammu and Kashmir, a religious conglomerate headed by head priest Mirwaiz Umar Farooq condemned the “blasphemous remarks” against the Holy Prophet of Islam (PBUH) by the student, terming it totally unacceptable.
In a statement, the leading members of the MMU said that the reverence and honour of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is dearer to a Muslim than his or her life and such blasphemous remarks will not be tolerated by the Muslims of valley.
Taking note of the incident, MMU demanded that a thorough investigation be conducted into how and why this incident occurred, and all those found involved be brought to book, the statement said.
MMU said that they hope that this insolence will be taken seriously by the authorities and serious efforts will be made to prevent such incidents from happening in the future. (With inputs from agencies)
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