The Telugu states, which created huge noise, when some students caught up in floods in Jammu and Kashmir NIT last year, are surprisingly silent this time even though dozens of students were beaten blue and black by locals on the campus of National Institute of Technology, Sri Nagar.
Except dashing off a letter to union home minister Rajnath Singh and union HRD minister Smruthi Irani not much seems to have been done by the Andhra Pradesh government. Yesterday, state’s special representative at Andhra Pradesh Bhavan, Kambhampati Rammohan Rao wrote two letters- one to Rajnath Singh and the other to Smruthi Irani.
” Around 100 Telugu students studying in the Institute are among the non-local students, who are being threatened by locals. Students are feeling that they are not safe on the campus and their parents are concerned about the security of students and are requesting to transfer their children to other NITs,” Kambhampati worte in the letter addressed to home minister Rajanth Singh.
He requested the union home minister, “to take necessary measures to ensure that such untoward incidents do not occur and see that necessary security is provided to all non-local students till normalcy is restored in the campus.”
This is a far cry from the previous experience from both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in 2014.
NIT Srinagar faced severe flood in September 2014, when the bifurcation was fresh in the minds of the people and Andhra, Telangana sentiment was felt everywhere. Andhra Pradesh chief minister was first to respond to the flood situation and made special efforts for the safety of the students, even though many of them students were from Telangana. Special cell was set up. IAS officers were deputed. Students had been escorted till they joined their parents. AP then is said to have rescued 76 students much to the relief of the parents. Officers were posted to oversee the rescue efforts, to coordinate with the J&K Government.
Surprisingly this type such pro-active response is amiss from both the governments despite the students lives are threatened. ” The Kashmiris are threatening to kill us if we stir out of the campus. We feel terribly insecure. We want the NIT to shift us to safe locality,” a Vizag student told media narrating their woes on the campus. Students fearing reprisal from the locals are not ready to respond to the calls from Andhra Pradesh.
The great relief to the parents back home is presence of J& K DGP, Kondaveeti Rajendrakumar Chowdary, a Telugu IPS officer, at helm of affairs . He is taking special care of all those students who have come for far off states like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The 1984 batch officer today visited the campus to oversee the security arrangements and reassure the students that they are safe.
The problem started on the campus when the students celebrated the India’s win over Pakistan in T-20 World Cup. Raising anti-India slogans, some local miscreants attacked the room and beat the students on April 1, which included Telugu as well.
