The deadlock at the NIT Srinagar campus continued on Saturday as the government ruled out shifting the NIT out of Kashmir and with outstation students saying they would continue to boycott classes unless that was done. Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh held a meeting with the representatives of the outstation students at his official residence here. Singh was accompanied by Education Minister Nayeem Akhtar.
A team of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Rohit Gupta, director, NIT-Srinagar, and senior police and civil officers was also present. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has said in a television interview that some “elements with ulterior motives” were trying to trigger communal tensions over a “non-issue”.
After the meeting, Singh told journalists on Saturday that he hoped that by Monday, the situation at the campus would be normal. “The students have problems with the J&K Police as well as restrictions on them within the campus,” Singh said, adding that the girl students have said that they were not being allowed to even move out of the hostel rooms after 6:30 p.m. “They have a lot of grievances against the faculty and have alleged victimisation. This problem was addressed in the meeting and they were told that they can directly email to officials against the teachers,” Singh said. Regarding the police FIRs against outstation students, he said, “They are open FIRs and we have assured students that no action would be taken unless the magisterial probe is completed.” Over 800 outstation students submitted written requests on Friday evening to the NIT administration here, asking for leave to go to their homes. Speaking to The Sunday Guardian, Singh said that there should be no political interference in educational institutes like NIT Srinagar and the state government has already ordered a magisterial probe into the entire incident.