A day after students staged a protest in Srinagar against a social media post on Prophet Muhammad, the Jammu and Kashmir Police has said it will bring the matter "to a logical conclusion" by handling it responsibly. Director General of Police (DGP) RR Swain said the police hold respect for Prophet Muhammad "in the highest regard" and would under no circumstances let this get hurt.
Tension was reported from Srinagar on Tuesday when protests were held at the NIT-Srinagar over a student's social media post about Prophet Muhammad allegedly hurting religious sentiments, as reported by news agency PTI. The protesters demanded stringent action against the non-local student who had been sent home on leave.
According to PTI, the students blocked both the gates of the institution, located in the Nigeen area of the city, and raised slogans inside the campus. After the protests, the police registered a case and started a probe into the matter. Police filed a case against the student for promoting religious enmity between communities.
"J&K Police holds respect for Prophet Muhammad in the highest regard, and under no circumstances will we let this get hurt... J&K Police will carry out its duties very responsibly. Trust us, just like we registered the case immediately, we will bring this to its logical conclusion. Don't let other elements jump into this on the pretext of this," Swain said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
Asked if they were suspecting a conspiracy angle, the J&K DGP said the people living in Jammu and Kashmir have seen this for years, and there is evidence that some people see benefit in keeping the atmosphere volatile. He said many messages that are being floated on social media are from handles from across the border.
"Those who live in J&K have been seeing for years and also have evidence that there is benefit for some people in keeping the atmosphere like this... If you look at the messages that are being floated on social media, many of those handles are from across the border. Our investigations over the past two days say that several people from across the border design and send this. Some people get involved in this and vitiate the atmosphere here," Swain said.
NIT-Srinagar Declares Winter Vacation 10 Days Ahead Of Schedule
The National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar closed for winter vacation on Thursday -- 10 days ahead of schedule -- as a precautionary measure, as reported by PTI. The Islamia College of Science and Commerce suspended all classwork and internal examinations scheduled for the day.
While NIT Srinagar declared a holiday for Thursday, the Dean of Students Welfare issued a circular announcing winter vacation in the engineering institute from today. The circular also asked all students living in the hostels to vacate the boarding facility with immediate effect, PTI reported.
The Registrar of the institute said the winter vacations "have been preponed only by 10 days" and there will be no academic loss for the students. "We have winter vacations every year and the same is the case this year also. The vacations were scheduled from December 9 but have been preponed," Registrar Ateekur Rehman told PTI.
On being questioned about the ongoing examinations, he said the students will write the remaining papers after returning from winter vacation. "We will ensure that there is no academic loss for the students," he added. The website of the NIT Srinagar has been taken down "for maintenance".