Mumbai: For the last few years, each time Muslim Kashmiri students like him faced discrimination in parts of India, Aaquib Ali (name changed) felt a quiet sense of reassurance and even pride.
Ali, 25, is finishing his bachelor’s course in Pharmacy at CT University, a private campus in Ludhiana, Punjab. Being on campus made him feel he was “in safety”, whenever Islamophobia and anti-Muslim feelings rose, he said.
Kashmiri students like him were not just safe, Ali said; they felt protected by fellow students and university officials.
Last week, all this changed.
Ali and other Kashmiri students were abused, threatened with eviction, and forced to spend a night in the college passageways—all because they insisted the university honour an old tradition of serving dinner an hour early during Ramzan so that underprivileged Muslim students could break their fast.
This time, when they urged the university to implement this arrangement, they were initially stonewalled. Then, during a confrontation, Ali alleged, the university’s vice‑chancellor Nitin Tandon abused them. The exchange was captured on video and widely shared on social media.
“In sab ko baahar nikalo, bhenc***. In sab ka admission cancelled,” Tandon is seen saying angrily, his index finger raised in the air. “Throw these sisterf****** out. All their admissions are cancelled.”
Ordered to get out, the fasting students sat in protest, having had only water and bananas.
This story was originally published in article-14.com. Read the full story here.
