Anupam Kher says NIT visit a 'symbolic gesture'

Bollywood veteran actor Anupam Kher on Sunday said that he was visiting Srinagar's National Institute of Technology (NIT) to express solidarity and provide moral support to the students.

Kher, who was stopped on his way to the NIT, earlier told ANI that he did not like what happened in the campus.

"I am visiting there at a personal level. It's a symbolic gesture as it is most important to show them solidarity. It's important to give NIT Srinagar students' moral support. I'm going there as a citizen to meet students," Kher told ANI here.

"I am not going to flare-up this issue. I will visit there as a citizen, I don't have any political fan following. I will also try to meet Mehbooba ji. I have not informed anyone, I have no security arrangements, I am going as a passenger," he added.

Tension was simmering in NIT, Srinagar, after India lost the World T20 semi-final to West Indies, where some engineering students from outside the state claimed Kashmiri students had chanted anti-India slogans and burst firecrackers after India lost.

The NIT authorities said the campus has been closed and the students have been asked to vacate the hostel.

To control the situation, officials closed the institute's entrance and did not allow anyone to enter. The police had to be called in after efforts by the NIT officials to control the situation and disperse the crowd failed. The police baton charged the protestors and fired teargas to bring the situation under control.