Seven Kashmiri students have been arrested and booked under section 13 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for an alleged confrontation over India’s loss to Australia in the men’s Cricket World Cup final on November 19.
The alleged incident happened after the match inside Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology in Kashmir’s Ganderbal. The seven students were arrested the next day.
The complainant, a fellow student from Punjab, alleges the Kashmiri students “created fear amongst the students from outside UT of J&K”.
According to the FIR seen by Maktoob, Ganderbal Police have charged the accused under Section 13 UAPA and Sections 505 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code.
“After finishing the match they started abusing me and targeting me for being a supporter of our country and also threatened me to shut up otherwise I would be “shooted”, reads the complaint in FIR.
Human rights activists have debunked the use of terror laws against Kashmiris for not supporting India during sporting events.
In 2021, the Jammu and Kashmir Police booked students and staff of medical colleges who celebrated the Pakistani cricket team’s victory over India in the T20 World Cup match, under the provisions of the UAPA.
Due to hostilities, the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Srinagar, in 2022, asked its students not to watch the India-Pakistan Asia Cup cricket match in groups or post anything related to it on social media platforms.
After that match, a WhatsApp status about Pakistan’s victory landed three Kashmiri students in Uttar Pradesh’s Agra jailed for sedition and suspended by the college authorities.
