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Cricket matches always divided NIT Srinagar. Here is why 2016 changed the game

Ipsita Sarkar | Updated on: 11 February 2017, 5:48 IST

 

April 18, 1986

Austral-Asia Cup final. India vs. Pakistan. Winner: Pakistan.

"Once, India was playing Pakistan in Sharjah. Miandad was batting. He hit a six on Chetan Sharma's ball and Pakistan won. The kind of celebration that took place on campus! (They) Celebrate anything anti-India."

- Amit Kumar Raina (Kashmiri Pandit), 1982-86 batch

July 2, 2008

Asia Cup: India vs. Pakistan. Winner: Pakistan

"The next morning, things got a bit bad and the college took precautions. Police was called on campus."

- Arman Aman (Non-Kashmiri), 2008-12 batch

March 30, 2011

ICC World Cup semi-finals: India vs. Pakistan. Winner: India

"There was a complete curfew in my hostel and college. The police was on campus. We weren't even allowed to see the match because things would go bad. We were not allowed to go to the common hall, canteen or anywhere else. Police was trying to bring things back to normal."

- Arman Aman

March 25, 2016

ICC World Twenty20: Pakistan vs. Australia. Winner: Australia

"There was a match between Pakistan and some other team. Pakistan had lost the game. Some people expressed their joy over it. Some local students were not happy about it."

- Naseer Bhat (Kashmiri), professor and former student

March 31, 2016

ICC World Twenty20: India vs. West Indies. Winner: West Indies

"India lost the game. The other group, unhappy the previous day, expressed happiness. And obviously the Indian group was not happy about it. This used to be there for a long time. What I think - this should have been over on that day only."

-Naseer Bhat

"They would ask me to bunk classes. But I would always object (in an angry but scared voice). I never took sides during cricket. I am not a cricket fan. There are supporters from both sides, reflecting sentiments on ground. But in class, we all sat together, eating together. I was never a part of all of this (hyperventilating by now)."

- Adil Rana (Kashmiri), final-year student

As this chronology shows, there has always been a rift between Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri students at NIT Srinagar over cricket matches involving either India or Pakistan. This divide existed as far as three decades ago - even before insurgency gripped Kashmir, even before the Pandits left, even before the Army marched in.

Then something different happened in March 2016.

Why is 2016 different?

"The only difference between now and then is that we didn't have the guts back then. Hats off to the current generation (non-Kashmiris)! Despite the fact that environment outside the campus is not what it used to be in those days, they still protested it the way it should have been protested," Raina told Catch. Driven out of his home in Srinagar in 1990, he holds strong views on the entire episode.

He also said that in his time, non-local students were in a minority.

"But today, since the number of outstation candidates is high, they could do what they have done."

Armaan, who is from Bihar, too agrees that things were different this time.

"I don't know what happened this year. It's happening everywhere in the country - such as JNU. A couple of people are trying to make things political. They blew it out of proportion. People from UP and Bihar are not bothered by these. But it matters to the locals," he said.

"Emotions are high during cricket matches. But these are momentary. This is normal stuff and all the batches have become accustomed to it. Things go bad for a couple of days or hours. Next day, we are back in the same mess, eating together. But for the first time, the entire thing got publicised because of social media," he said.

At the outset of our conversation, Rasool Bhat, the professor, clarified that he is not a cricket fan.

"There was always a difference of opinion. It's been there for ages. I have also been a student of this institute in the 80s. These sentiments always existed, but never to the extent of a fight. Had the media not blown it up, it would have calmed down the next day," he said.

Bhat also said that after the media glare, the protests turned into an administration versus students issue.

"It started with national and anti-national sentiment but boiled down to hostel and administrative issues with students demanding shifting of campus and removal of some office-bearers.But most issues were raised after they got the media involved in this. It got messed up," he said.

The Institute

Often referred to as one of the most beautiful campuses in India (located next to the Dal Lake), NIT Srinagar was established in 1960. Back then, it was known as Regional Engineering College (REC) and was one of the initial eight RECs, run jointly by the Central and state governments. Then, in 2002, Atal Bihari Vajpeyee's NDA government converted the 14 RECs into National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and NIT Srinagar came under the control of Ministry of Human Resource Department (MHRD). In 2015, it was listed under 'Institute of National Importance'. The college has ranked 67th in MHRD's National Institutional Ranking Framework 2016.
NIT Srinagar clash video grab

What really happened: Professor's eyewitness account

Bhat, who said he saw the entire incident unfold from his office window, narrated the chronology of events to Catch:

"On Friday, many people were coming out after their mid-day prayers. I saw that a large group of people (non-locals) had gathered near the campus area. They were raising slogans. I went home for lunch. I reside in the campus. Even from home, I could hear the slogans.

"I came back to office and I could see them from my office window. Some students were raising 'Bharat Mata ki jai' and 'Vande Mataram' slogans. They then suddenly raised the Tricolour and marched around the campus.

"By then, another group, who supporting the Pakistani cricket team, had gathered and began raising 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans. But there was no scuffle or any direct confrontation between the two groups.

"Later, there was some noise. I heard from some people that a courier boy, who comes to the campus daily, was asked to say 'Bharat Mata ki jai'. He apparently refused. So some boys beat him up.

"A research scholar intervened and asked them not to fight. He was also beaten up.

"While this was happening, the group raising pro-Pakistan slogans, stayed at a distance, but raised more slogans.

The administration called the police so to avoid clashes.

"The researcher went to the group of local boys and managed to calm them down. They moved back a little. The group holding the national flag went to the gate. They wanted to go out of the campus and tell the media. But the police stopped them.

"At this point, I went away. I later heard they had some argument with the police. Some students pushed the policemen. As a result, there was a lathi-charge.

"The police pushed the students towards the hostels and restricted them there. But the sloganeering continued till late from the hostel.

The next day (Saturday), non-local students did not come for classes. They continued their strike even on Monday when the institute reopened."

End of rivalries?

Bhat claimed tempers calmed down over the week.

"A couple of days later, I saw some boys playing cricket - local and non-locals. I inquired in class about the protesting students. The students said the non-locals had come to them and said: 'There is nothing with you. We have issues with the administration. If you want, you can come and join us.'

"So then it turned into an administration issue - shifting of college, removal of some office-bearers, no geyser in the hostel, girls complained about hostel timings, etc. Once the media came in, many issues were raised."

Role of Media

While Raina felt positive about the facts coming out in the open due to the deep media exposure, Professor Bhat and Adil Rana thought the media blew it out of proportion. Aman, on the other, felt it had something to do with the current politically-charged environment in the country after the incidents in JNU and Hyderabad Central University. All three however agreed that the media had a role in the way the incident unfolded.

(Note: Names of people quoted in the story have been changed on request. Catch called up more NIT students but everyone refused to speak, except for one final-year student quoted at the beginning. All of them however sounded scared and cautious on the phone. Some of the student phone numbers mentioned on the NIT website were switched off or non-functional.)

First published: 25 April 2016, 11:56 IST
 
Ipsita Sarkar @piercingharmony

Ipsita writes on education with focus on schools, higher education (engineering, B-Schools), HRD ministry, policies, and startup ecosphere. She's previously worked with Hindustan Times and Shiksha.com.