By Sana Kauser
The controversy at IIMT University over a viral video of students offering namaz on campus on March 13, a day before the Hindu festival of Holi, has taken a distressing turn, with fresh allegations surfacing about police high-handedness and student mistreatment in the ongoing IIMT namaz row.
On Monday, March 17, six students were arrested after nearly 400 Muslim students gathered at the university’s main gate, demanding the release of Khalid Pradhan, aka Khalid Mewati, a 22-year-old first-year physiotherapy student, who was detained for allegedly uploading a video of students offering namaz.
According to students, they were compelled to offer prayers on campus as the university’s re-entry restrictions during college hours left them with no other option.
On March 17, the protest, which started as a peaceful march, soon became violent when the students were denied permission to stage a rally on the campus.
Instead, the police asked them to go along with the police to the police station to “settle the issue.” But students were detained midway by police forces, surrounded, and showered with sudden lathi charge.
“They called them for talks, but instead, the students were stopped midway, and beaten. Some had their clothes torn and sustained minor injuries,” said a student who wished to remain anonymous.
He further alleged that police officers forcibly deleted videos of the incident and threatened students against recording or sharing any content.
In response to the uproar, following IIMT Namaz row incident, the university administration has suspended three security guards.
This story was originally published in theobserverpost.com. Read the full story here.
