Suspended students: AJK cabinet condemns Indian varsity’s actions
Requests release of truck driver held on drug smuggling charges.
Three suspended Kashmiri students address the media in Srinagar. PHOTO: AFP
MUZAFFARABAD:
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir cabinet on Monday condemned the suspension of 67 students from Indian-held Kashmir by a private university in Uttar Pradesh on charges of cheering on the Pakistan cricket team’s win over India in the Asia Cup on February 23. A cabinet meeting, chaired by Azad Kashmir Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, termed the act a violation of basic human rights.
The cabinet passed a resolution praising the Pakistani Foreign Office’s offer of free education to the students.
NDTV reported on Monday that Swami Vivekanand Subharti University has revoked the suspension and assured the students that they will not be ‘hounded’ once they return to campus.
The cabinet also asked the Indian government to release the Azad Kashmir driver who was arrested on January 17 on charges of smuggling drugs.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Khizer Hayat Gondal remained absent at the second cabinet meeting following the AJK government’s request to the federal government to remove Gondal and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Malik Khuda Bakhsh Awan in a row over Rangers who were called in during the by-election of Legislative Assembly 22 in Sudhanoti-Poonch VI constituency.
The federal government turned down Prime Minister Chaudhry Majeed’s request to remove the chief secretary and IGP in accordance with the Karachi Agreement of 1949. As per the agreement, the appointment and transfer of top officials is the responsibility of the federal government and not the AJK government.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2014.
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir cabinet on Monday condemned the suspension of 67 students from Indian-held Kashmir by a private university in Uttar Pradesh on charges of cheering on the Pakistan cricket team’s win over India in the Asia Cup on February 23. A cabinet meeting, chaired by Azad Kashmir Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, termed the act a violation of basic human rights.
The cabinet passed a resolution praising the Pakistani Foreign Office’s offer of free education to the students.
NDTV reported on Monday that Swami Vivekanand Subharti University has revoked the suspension and assured the students that they will not be ‘hounded’ once they return to campus.
The cabinet also asked the Indian government to release the Azad Kashmir driver who was arrested on January 17 on charges of smuggling drugs.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Khizer Hayat Gondal remained absent at the second cabinet meeting following the AJK government’s request to the federal government to remove Gondal and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Malik Khuda Bakhsh Awan in a row over Rangers who were called in during the by-election of Legislative Assembly 22 in Sudhanoti-Poonch VI constituency.
The federal government turned down Prime Minister Chaudhry Majeed’s request to remove the chief secretary and IGP in accordance with the Karachi Agreement of 1949. As per the agreement, the appointment and transfer of top officials is the responsibility of the federal government and not the AJK government.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2014.