Protests continue at NIT, J&K cops say no need for certificate on nationalism

Local students at the institute, on the other hand, opposed most of the demands of outstation students, including that for permanent presence of central security forces, saying that it would make the campus vulnerable to disturbance.

The protesting students tried to march towards the main gate but were stopped by the security forces, officials said. Officials said the students wanted to talk to media personnel camping outside campus at Hazratbal. The students shouted slogans in favour of their demands, but later went back to the campus, they said.

Meanwhile, with the state police under attack over the Tuesday’s lathicharge, two senior officers of the force took to social media to vent their anguish. They asserted that no “certificate” of nationalism was needed by the force, which has brought the state out of a “madness called terrorism”.

Mubassir Latifi, SSP of the elite Crime Branch and Firoz Yehya, DySP at Baramulla Headquarter,s answered criticism against the force for taking action against the agitating students at NIT campus.

“The J&K Police doesn’t need any certificate of nationalism or impartiality from those whose valour doesn’t extend beyond their keypads,” Latifi posted on his Facebook page. “The J&K Police is a saga of sacrifice and courage and has brought this state out of a madness called terrorism,” said Latifi, a Masters in Law.

He added: “The J&K Police doesn’t discriminate on the basis of who’s a local and who’s a non-local. Neither do we enjoy beating up people. Force is used only for the maintenance of law and order and to disperse unlawful assembly of people.”

He said anyone resorting to violence was committing a crime. “Someone resorting to violence is committing a crime and police knows how to take on crime,” he wrote.

Yehya said: “Many of my colleagues have been asking and many more must be thinking ‘whose war are we fighting?’ All I can tell them is that, this is just another phase and will pass. Further, the JK Police doesn’t need any certificate.” 

“We must continue doing the good work within the ambit of law and nothing shall deter us...Good common people who we serve may be alienated with us for reasons more than one and our good work shall certainly help us win their hearts,” Yehya said. He reminded the critics that the state police had taken tough action against its own officers wherever they were found guilty of overstepping their jurisdiction.