A group of Kashmiri students organised the funeral Thursday evening, but were stopped by other students and AMU authorities.
New Delhi: A group of students of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) organised a funeral for slain Hijbul Mujahideen militant Mannan Wani Thursday evening. Wani was killed in an encounter with the security forces Wednesday.
The ritual, however, was interrupted by authorities before it could be completed. Two students involved in organising the protest have been booked for sedition. The Union Human Resource Development Ministry has also sought a report on the incident from the university authorities, officials told ThePrint.
Also read: PhD scholar-turned-Hizbul militant Mannan Wani killed in Kashmir encounter
Wani was a Ph.D. scholar in geology at AMU, and was considered well-read and a good orator. He was reportedly very popular among Kashmiri students, who organised the ‘funeral’.
Wani was debarred by the university in January after the authorities got to know of his involvement with the Hizbul.
Eyewitness account
“A group of Kashmiri students had organised a funeral for Wani, a ritual which is done in absentia. But before they could go ahead with it, I reached the venue and tried to stop them,” said Faizul Hasan, a Ph.D. scholar and former president of the students’ association.
“Some other students also came to the spot and told them not to continue with it, as it would give a bad name to the university. The Proctor was also called to the spot and they had to eventually abandon the ritual.”
A minor scuffle ensued between students who were trying to conduct the funeral and those trying to stop them, said a student who did not want to be named. It was only after the authorities intervened that the situation was brought under control.
Around 15 students have been sent show-cause notices after the incident. This has led the ministry to ask for an explanation from the university.
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“We received a call from the ministry officials in the morning today and have been asked to send a report on the incident,” a senior AMU official said.
“The situation was brought in control on time and no untoward incident took place. We have already taken action against students who were involved. We will send the due reply to ministry.”