In another controversy around the film, ‘The Kerala Story’ a medical student at Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu was attacked by a violent mob for supporting the film. The incident occurred on May 14, after the student allegedly shared a WhatsApp status praising the movie.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jammu Chandan Kohli said an investigation is underway. “There has been an incident of scuffle between some students and outsiders in GMC hostel Jammu. Cognisance of the matter has been taken and an investigation is going on,” he said.
Till the time this report was filed, five students were reportedly admitted to the hospital. Out of the five, one had stitches on his head, while the four others had minor injuries and were discharged.
The students from the GMC hostel, especially Hindus have reported incidents of discrimination based on their religious identity on the campus. Other than this all these students confirmed that a boy was attacked for supporting the film on social media. The attacks were reportedly initiated by the Kashmiri Muslims studying at the university.
As per a viral video of the incident shared on Twitter, the attack was initiated by Kashmiri Muslims, identified as Showkat Malik, Khan Basit Bilal who is also an educator at Unacademy and Haseeb, the attacker. These men have Pakistani supporting ideas, Bilal’s Instagram bio shows he believes India has occupied Kashmir. There have been regular visits of Maulvis and clerics inside the campus.
The mob of Muslim men on the campus attacked as many as three Hindu students. One was being attacked for supporting the film, the other two were injured while protecting the victim. They were raising anti-national slogans while targeting the Hindus. One of them was, ‘Kashmiriyon Idhar Aao, Inka Safaya Karna Hai’.
A second-year MBBS student identified as Mukaib Shapoo openly said, ‘The Kashmiri Muslim students would have dissected the Hindu men if they had the chance’.
https://twitter.com/Anshul_12_04/status/1658397230892740608?s=20
A student at the campus while explaining the scuffle said, ‘a first-year MBBS Hindu student uploaded a link to the movie The Kerala Story with the message ‘Must Watch’ on a Whatsapp group. A senior Muslim student and several others allegedly confronted the first-year student after becoming enraged by the post. They were opposed to the message sent in the group. This resulted in an argument. Seeing the 1st year student being threatened, more Hindu students gathered to support him. The argument quickly escalated into a full-fledged brawl’.
On May 14, the seniors called him to the corridor and threatened him with death threats. Soon they started thrashing him, some of the students nearby came for rescue but to avail as the enraged students attacked them as well. They raised slogans like ‘Nara-e-Takbeer’, ‘Azadi’ and ‘Pakistan Zindabad’.
The Muslim students targeted their own students to get away with the conspiracy, a student said, “They were the ones who attacked us, and now they are playing the victim, accusing us of attacking them”.
Well, shocking the media reports about the incident are contrary to the truth. Deccan Herald report says, that members of a right-wing group were brought into the hostel from outside, shouted religious slogans and attacked one of the students with a sharp-edged object, injuring him in the head.
The Tribune quoted the police as, “The protesting students said the scuffle took place late Sunday night when a student shared a link of the controversial film in the official group of first-year students, which was objected to by one of his batchmates, stating that the group is meant for academic purposes only.
The student, who had objected to the sharing of the link, was later confronted and assaulted inside the hostel, leading to a scuffle as more and more students along with some outsiders joined the ruckus.”
Principal GMC Shashi Sudhan Sharma said, “There was a scuffle in the boy’s hostel and five students suffered minor injuries. Four of them were discharged immediately, while one of them who had received stitches in the head, is being discharged within two hours,”
“A WhatsApp message worked as instigation but the situation is well under control (now). The interference of some medicos who have left the institute and some others were recorded,” she said.
Notably, the opposition has tried making it an issue against the government. The former Chief Minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah tweeted, “Very distressing images of gunda elements targeting Kashmiri students in Jammu. @JmuKmrPolice must take cognisance of this & ensure those responsible are brought to book. @OfficeOfLGJandK must ensure this is done in a time-bound manner & reassure students that their safety will not be compromised at the alter of politics”
Very distressing images of gunda elements targeting Kashmiri students in Jammu. @JmuKmrPolice must take cognisance of this & ensure those responsible are brought to book. @OfficeOfLGJandK must ensure this is done in a time-bound manner & reassure students that their safety will… https://t.co/Fyker70jZ5
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) May 15, 2023
