Suspension orders of AMU students revoked

Aligarh: The suspension order of two AMU students stirred protest followed by Kashmiri students at the varsity refusing to surrender their degrees and leave the campus.

The refusal was later followed by revocation of the suspension order of the two students by the varsity, Indian Express reported.

A three-member panel had revoked the suspension order of two AMU students Tuesday night and exonerated Waseem Ayyub Malik and Abdul Haseeb Mir, saying “no credible evidence” of their participation in any “unlawful assembly” in the varsity campus was found, AMU spokesperson Shafey Kidwai said.

The students were suspended on Friday for allegedly participating in an aborted Namaaz-e-Janaza (prayer meeting) in the varsity campus for slain Hizbul Mujahideen militant, Manan Bashir Wani.

The two students were also booked on sedition charges for allegedly raising “anti-India” slogans as the police claimed.

The suspension orders for the Kashmiri students stirred controversy in the campus and valley where former CM Mufti had opined the matter should be solved immediately to avoid tensions in the valley.

Former president of AMU Students’ Union Mashkoor Ahmad Usmani told the decision to revoke order was a “welcome step” and will definitely have a salutary effect not only in the varsity but also in the Kashmir Valley.

“We are strongly opposed to any anti-national act and we will never allow any such incident to take place at the campus. However, we are strongly opposed to any attempt to harass any student, be it from Kashmir or from any other part of the country.

“We feel that slapping of a sedition case against the two Kashmiri students by police was hasty, ill-conceived and based on flimsy evidence,” Usmani added.

While former vice president of AMU Students’ Union Sajjad Subhan Rather, who also hails from Kashmir demanding justice for the Kashmiri students had led a silent protest on Tuesday at the venue of the All India AMU Alumni Meet.