Degree College Shopian students protest against Aadil’s killing

Srinagar: The students of Degree College Shopian on Monday boycotted their classes to protest against the killing of young student, Aadil Magray at the hands government forces last week.

Reports reaching here said that the students of Degree College Shopian amid massive sloganeering started marching. However, Police and paramilitary forces were deployed there in strength.

The forces resorted to massive tearsmoke shelling on the protesting students to disperse them. However, the students resisted and pelted stones on the forces personnel.

Witnesses said as pro-freedom and anti-India sloganeering heightened inside the college premises, the protesting students, including girls, came out and pelted stones on the deployment. “Forces retaliated with teargas shells and stun grenades, which created panic,” witnesses said.

Reports said that one girl student has fainted in the incident.

Officials said all the schools and colleges have opened in the Valley after over a month of shutdown and clashes between security personnel and students who hit the streets against the assault on students of Degree College Pulwama last month.

Sources said nearly dozen educational institutions were closed, including the prominent SP School and College in the capital Srinagar, to ensure that the student don’t stage protests, which has become a new challenge for the security forces in the Valley.

“We have been counselling students over the last month. In some cases, parents were called to counsel their wards against staging protests. We are confident that normalcy has returned to the campuses,” a senior government officer said, wishing anonymity.

Tensions erupted on campuses across the Valley following an alleged raid by security forces on Degree College Pulwama last month. In the ensuing clashes, nearly 50 students, many of them girls, were wounded. In the coming days, thousands of students across the Valley staged protests.

While the schools and colleges have resumed work on Monday, tension is palpable on the campuses, “Students are still angry. Where else do you hear of teargas shells being fired at students on campus. This highhandedness has angered the student community,” Zahid Nabi, a student of a prominent school in Srinagar said.

The colleges and universities of Kashmir valley reopened after many days in Kashmir. Authorities had suspended class work in the higher educational institutions fearing protests post Aadil’s killing.