New Delhi: With the government having ruled out shifting NIT Srinagar following the recent unrest, outstation students on Tuesday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi or HRD Minister Smriti Irani visit the campus and hoist the tricolour to instill a sense of security.
In a letter to Irani, the students have placed a set of 19 demands, including permanent deployment of CRPF on the campus, reshuffle of college administration, formation of Students' Council, option of outside evaluation of exam marksheets and celebration of national festivals at the institute. The letter was presented to HRD officials today.
"We request either the Hon'ble minister of HRD or the Prime Minister of India to come with students to NIT Srinagar and hoist full size Tiranga in the campus at its highest mast. This will end the leave taken by students and also give them a sense of security.
"This will reiterate the message that Kashmir is an integral part of India and students will have a psychological win over the anti-national elements in the campus as well as outside," the students wrote in the letter.
The students have also demanded an enquiry against "suspects" in the recent incidents of violence on the campus and sought reimbursement of medical bills of injured students by the college authorities.
A group of nearly a dozen students' representatives presented the demands during a nearly 3-hour meeting where NIT Srinagar Director Rajat Gupta and Director in the HRD ministry Sanjeev Sharma were also present.
Last week, the students had met HRD minister Smriti Irani, who ruled out shifting of NIT campus but assured support in academic matters.
"We have presented our demands and hope that the ministry will take action to create a suitable environment," said Swayam, a student, who was part of the delegation, after the meeting.
NIT Srinagar has been at the centre of a controversy since April 1 when clashes broke out between outstation and local students following India's defeat to West Indies in the World Cup T20 semi-final.
The situation worsened on April 5 when outstation students tried to take out a march outside the campus but were stopped by the police, leading to incidents of violence including vandalism by students and lathicharge by police.
