NIT issue: Opposition parties, VHP slam police action

Opposition parties and VHP today slammed the police lathicharge on outstation students at NIT Srinagar and demanded a probe into it besides action against the erring police officials.
Activists of Congress' youth wing staged a protest in front of Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh's official residence at the Canal Road. They shouted anti-government slogans and demanded that Singh resign for allegedly giving a "misleading" statement over the incident.
"The Deputy Chief Minister should resign for his statement that police resorted to minor lathicharge. But the students have sustained serious injuries," president of JK Youth Congress Pranav said.
A probe should be initiated into the incident and action taken against "erring" police and administration officials, he said.

Panthers Party members along with the parents of the students also staged a protest near the Press Club here, demanding security to about 500 non-Kashmiri students in NIT Srinagar.
"We demand security to non-Kashmiri students on the campus. They feel threatened. They were cane-charged by police for raising tricolor and those who shouted anti-India and pro-freedom slogans along with Kanhaiya Kumar are roaming free," said the party's chairman Harsh Dev Singh.

A probe should be ordered into "unprovoked use of brutal force" by police against students, he said.
The parents of the non-resident NIT students demanded that para-military forces be deployed on the campus to ensure safety and security of their wards.

VHP leader Leela Karan Sharma said police action on students raising "nationalist" slogans was unheard of and demanded action against the policemen involved, failing which he threatened a nationwide agitation.
He demanded immediate withdrawal of local police from the campus and replacing it with paramilitary forces.
"It is quite disturbing to learn that students from other states in NIT Srinagar are virtually kept as prisoners," he alleged.