Agra: The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking the dropping of sedition charges and FIR against three Kashmiri students booked in Agra for allegedly posting “pro-Pakistan” chats on social media after the T20 World Cup India-Pakistan match on October 24.
According to a statement, the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) has also sought revoking of their suspension from the college in Agra.
National spokesperson for the JKSA, Nasir Khuehami said that the action against the students was totally “arbitrary and unwarranted”.
“Sedition and FIR are very harsh punishments for their act and will ruin their careers and further alienate them. These harsh charges on the basis of mere WhatsApp chats will have serious consequences on their career and may lead to serious repercussions both, in the long- and short-terms. Slapping sedition charges on them will put their career and the resources used by their parents for their education at stake,” Khuehami said.
“The social media messages might have hurt the sentiments of the people, but we need to reach out to them and counsel them rather than react with harsh decisions. No doubt they erred, but we hope that they will be given a chance to return to studies. Their future should not be destroyed in the larger interest of the country. The students who go to other states do so for serious studies. They have nothing to do with politics,” he pointed out.
JKSA’s national general secretary Younus Rashid also said that the government should give the students a chance and sought amnesty for them.
Rashid requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take prompt steps to resolve the issue on humanitarian grounds and to revoke sedition charges and FIR against the students, so that their future is not jeopardised.
