“Kar Liya NIT Shift?” (Did you succeed in shifting the NIT?).
“Karo Karo NIT Shift” (Go get the NIT shifted).

Stray taunts such as these from some of the locals are the only reminders of the forceful protests that rocked the National Institute, Srinagar, a non-local student told Scroll.

The taunts could, arguably, be playful. But some students do not perceive it that way. The underlying problem resulting in the last month’s protests remain unaddressed, even though a semblance of normalcy appears to have returned to the campus.

“Despite minor brawls [in the past], the overall atmosphere has always remained cordial,” a final semester Kashmiri student pointed out.

A non-local classmate concurred. “Now the relations between locals and non-locals are back to normal and there is no hostility,” he added, while pointing out that the same could not be said of the staff of some departments.

Quick resolution?

The campus that had erupted into forceful protests went quiet just as abruptly.

A third year student, from Andhra Pradesh, said the protests subsided so quickly because a large number of students left the campus – while some had headed to protest in Delhi, those from other places simply went home.

As the classes were recommenced, some of the students may have rejoined “perhaps because of parental pressure to focus on studies and not get involved in protests,” speculated a student from Uttar Pradesh.

Lack of support from the final semester students, who had mostly stayed away from the protests, was also cited as a contributing factor.

Out of 1441 students who left, 1395 had returned by May 2, said Assistant Registrar, Dr Mir Mohammad Ibrahim,

A final semester student from Jammu added that the “students of the first and the second year, being uninitiated [in Kashmir’s society and politics], were naïve enough to believe that the BJP’s governments (at the centre and state) would back them unconditionally, given the happenings in other universities like JNU.”

The student from Andhra Pradesh said that though there is a semblance of normalcy, with no confrontation among the locals and non-locals, they are not the best of friends either. “Some of us are not on talking terms with the locals,” he said. “Even in class, we seat ourselves separately, ensuring obvious space.”

‘Authorities did it’

Terming the protests immature on the part of the juniors, another final semester student from Jammu said, “The director could have prevented the issue from escalating had he taken action on the students’ complaints on the first day”.

On the intervening night of March 31 and April 1, stones were thrown from outside the campus, non-local students maintained, reiterating that the incidents of stray stone pelting at the hostel were not new. Things came to a head because no action had been taken by the administration despite assurances.

Students alleged that in the past outsiders have entered the campus and confronted the non-locals over feuds between local and non-local students.

The Kashmiri student, quoted above, pointed to incident from a few years back. A student from Jammu, perceived to be arrogant in his demeanour, had slapped a local student in a brawl.

The local student arranged for half a dozen sturdy men. A non-local student present in the conversation added, “The men entered the campus and went door to door, searching the hostel for the individual that slapped the local.” Later, apparently, both parties agreed to settle the matter, fearing legal action.

Non-local students said they now bear no hostility towards the local students. The problem, they maintain, was with the administration that had chosen not to act.

Some students demanded a reshuffle and restructure of the NIT administration. “We have apprehensions on approaching some officials because of their general indifference or intimidation,” some of the non-local students maintained.

On its part, the administration seems to be making efforts to take their complaints on board. The institute has asked students to submit their grievances by email. Students, however, are not convinced, maintaining that their problems are seldom heard and matters are always hushed up.

The students had demanded an online grievance redressal system to be directly monitored by the ministry of human resources development, without involving the NIT Srinagar administration.

The institution, on its part, rebutted a report stating that the NIT was mulling rustication of 50 students who were “identified for vandalism” in a press release that termed the statement “totally baseless and wrong”.

A senior official said that the investigations are on-going and no one has been identified so far. But the students expressed their apprehensions. “After the issue has completely died down, they might trouble us.”

The students complain that the administration has vested too much power in a few individuals who “manage discipline by intimidation”.

The main problem, the non-local students emphasised, is with the administration not acting on instances of complaints against locals and the highhandedness of some staff members.

The students point out that this main problem of administrative mishandling was overshadowed by the overall political scenario in the state and the country. There was disproportionate focus on the lathi-charge and sloganeering, so much so that the underlying causes were ignored.

Clearly, it is the administration that needs to restore the confidence of the students.