The Jammu and Kashmir Police have dropped charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against seven students of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST), who were arrested on November 20 after a student complained he was allegedly threatened and pro-Pakistan slogans were raised following Australia’s victory against India in the cricket World Cup final. The seven have also been granted interim bail till December 13.
The police decision to invoke UAPA had come under criticism from former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, prompting the J&K Police to say that they had invoked a “softer provision” of the anti-terror law.
The police had also said it was not “merely about raising pro-Pakistan slogans” but about the “full context”, including “intimidating” and “terrorising” those who disagreed, and “normalising an abnormal”. “This abnormal and false thing is practiced mostly on the back of separatist and terrorist networks,” the state police had said.
Section 13 of the UAPA, which the students were charged under, deals with inciting or advising any unlawful activity and is punishable with seven years’ jail.
A senior police officer said that as the bail petition came up for hearing on Saturday at the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court in Ganderbal, the police informed the court that charges under UAPA against the seven have been dropped.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here .
