Role of 2 Hindu radical activists in focus for Sharda University clashes
Deepak Sharma, Ved Nagar booked for inciting violence
on Sharda University campus where Afghan & Kashmiri students were
allegedly beaten up.
New Delhi: From putting out Facebook posts inciting violence against foreigners, especially Afghan nationals, to circulating inflammatory videos through WhatsApp, Noida-based Hindu radical activist Deepak Sharma is known in the area for such activities.
Sharma is the focus of the police probe into the recent incidents of violence against Afghan and Kashmiri students at Sharda University in Greater Noida.
Sharma, who went missing after police started looking for him for questioning, is a frequent visitor to the university, where he allegedly tries to foment trouble against the foreign nationals. However, this is the first case against Sharma.
Apart from Sharma, the role of another local radical Hindu leader, Ved Nagar, who is active in western Uttar Pradesh as part of cow-protection groups, has also come under the scanner.
Police said Nagar had a role in inciting the violence through objectionable messages shared on social media platforms, but his presence on the campus hasn’t been established yet.
In a comment to ThePrint, Nagar denied any role in the violence. ThePrint reached Sharma for a comment but there was no response till the time of publishing this report.
Sharma and Nagar have been booked along with 300-350 unknown persons for the violence last week in three separate FIRs registered under sections of IPC relating to rioting, hateful speeches and inciting violence, said Arvind Pathak, SHO, Knowledge Park police station, Greater Noida.
Pathak can be seen at the varsity gates, arguing with Sharma in a 19-minute Facebook live video that triggered the sequence of events.
In the video posted on Sharma’s Facebook page, he is seen driving to the university, reaching its gates and haggling with guards and police personnel deployed at the gate.
Alleging that Afghan students were turning the university into a “mini-Taliban”, Sharma then tells the camera that slogans were raised against India.
“The university administration gets a substantial sum (in the form of fees) from these students and the constitution is entangled with legal shackles,” Sharma can be heard saying.
In the video, Sharma is then joined by a mob, seen carrying the Indian flag and shouting ‘Bharat mata ki jai’, ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Vande Mataram’, which forcefully enters the campus and levels abuses against a student when stopped by a policeman. Sharma claims in the video that his brother who studies in the university was receiving threatening messages and phone calls from “Afghani students”.
A scuffle between a few local students and Afghan students broke out near the hostel on 2 October after the objectionable message was shared on students’ WhatsApp group, said a Sharda University faculty member on condition of anonymity.
The faculty member said “local self-proclaimed leader Deepak Sharma” managed to enter the campus that evening through a student related to him and posted videos on Facebook.
“The next day, he seems to have put up messages and videos asking people to assemble at the university gate. However, it was on Thursday (4 October) when clashes broke out and a Kashmiri student was beaten up,” added the faculty member.
Following the brawl, the varsity then instituted an inquiry committee, called the parents of 38 students and suspended three Afghan students.
A Kashmiri student who witnessed the violence spoke of the fear that has gripped the campus. “It started on 3 October when Bilal’s local classmates asked him for his I-card which he didn’t show. Before this, locals had a fight with Afghans and Afghan students had beaten up two locals,” said the student who didn’t wish to be named.
Bilal is a first-year student of Bachelors in Medical Imaging Technology.
“Bilal was nowhere in picture but the locals were hunting for Afghan students amid this,” said the student, a second-year student who is also pursuing Medical Imaging Technology.
According to him, the Afghan students were already on alert as the locals were looking for them. On 4 October, a mob of locals along with local students who had a minor argument with Bilal over his I-card entered the campus.
“Around 11 am, this mob first caught hold of an Afghan student, Jalal, and two Kashmiri girls. The girls were harassed and hit near the law building after they came out of an examination,” said the student.
“While moving ahead, the local students from the mob pointed fingers at Bilal saying he is the Kashmiri who refused to show his I-card. Bilal was coming out of class from the building (School of Applied Health Sciences),” said the student.
He claimed the mob started beating Bilal mercilessly, who was later taken to hospital.
“The girls were also taken to the hospital. One girl had an injury on her shoulder,” he said.
All the Kashmiri students have been terrified after the incident, said another student on condition of anonymity.
The university, which shut down classes due to the violence, will resume on 10 October.
“The university has taken all necessary steps to maintain peace and harmony on the campus. The enquiry committee is working day and night to identify the culprits and to recommend strict disciplinary action against them,” said Ajit Kumar (Joint Registrar & PRO), Sharda University.
“The personal safety of all students has been ensured and entry of outsiders has been completely restricted. The number of security personnel has been increased considerably and round the clock vigil is being maintained. An advisory has also been sent to all the students to cooperate with the university authorities,” added Kumar.
However, this is not the first time this private university has seen violence which involved foreign students.
In March, the top management and unidentified guards of the university were booked under charges of criminal intimidation and assault by an engineering student after a video showing a student being lifted and thrown out of the varsity’s premises surfaced.
The incident allegedly took place after the student was denied entry because he was carrying cigarettes. An FIR was lodged on the complaint of an engineering student who hails from Saudi Arabia.
New Delhi: From putting out Facebook posts inciting violence against foreigners, especially Afghan nationals, to circulating inflammatory videos through WhatsApp, Noida-based Hindu radical activist Deepak Sharma is known in the area for such activities.
Sharma is the focus of the police probe into the recent incidents of violence against Afghan and Kashmiri students at Sharda University in Greater Noida.
Sharma, who went missing after police started looking for him for questioning, is a frequent visitor to the university, where he allegedly tries to foment trouble against the foreign nationals. However, this is the first case against Sharma.
Apart from Sharma, the role of another local radical Hindu leader, Ved Nagar, who is active in western Uttar Pradesh as part of cow-protection groups, has also come under the scanner.
Police said Nagar had a role in inciting the violence through objectionable messages shared on social media platforms, but his presence on the campus hasn’t been established yet.
In a comment to ThePrint, Nagar denied any role in the violence. ThePrint reached Sharma for a comment but there was no response till the time of publishing this report.
Sharma and Nagar have been booked along with 300-350 unknown persons for the violence last week in three separate FIRs registered under sections of IPC relating to rioting, hateful speeches and inciting violence, said Arvind Pathak, SHO, Knowledge Park police station, Greater Noida.
Pathak can be seen at the varsity gates, arguing with Sharma in a 19-minute Facebook live video that triggered the sequence of events.
Facebook video
On 2 October, the clash at Sharda University allegedly started over some content shared on two social media platforms. An ‘objectionable’ message was shared on a WhatsApp group of BBA students of the university and later on Sharma’s Facebook page, where a video was posted and locals ‘urged’ to gather at the varsity.In the video posted on Sharma’s Facebook page, he is seen driving to the university, reaching its gates and haggling with guards and police personnel deployed at the gate.
Alleging that Afghan students were turning the university into a “mini-Taliban”, Sharma then tells the camera that slogans were raised against India.
“The university administration gets a substantial sum (in the form of fees) from these students and the constitution is entangled with legal shackles,” Sharma can be heard saying.
In the video, Sharma is then joined by a mob, seen carrying the Indian flag and shouting ‘Bharat mata ki jai’, ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Vande Mataram’, which forcefully enters the campus and levels abuses against a student when stopped by a policeman. Sharma claims in the video that his brother who studies in the university was receiving threatening messages and phone calls from “Afghani students”.
Tense campus
Over the following days, a tense campus witnessed violence where a first-year Kashmiri student, Ahtisham Bilal, was attacked, allegedly after he was mistaken for an Afghan student.A scuffle between a few local students and Afghan students broke out near the hostel on 2 October after the objectionable message was shared on students’ WhatsApp group, said a Sharda University faculty member on condition of anonymity.
The faculty member said “local self-proclaimed leader Deepak Sharma” managed to enter the campus that evening through a student related to him and posted videos on Facebook.
“The next day, he seems to have put up messages and videos asking people to assemble at the university gate. However, it was on Thursday (4 October) when clashes broke out and a Kashmiri student was beaten up,” added the faculty member.
Following the brawl, the varsity then instituted an inquiry committee, called the parents of 38 students and suspended three Afghan students.
A Kashmiri student who witnessed the violence spoke of the fear that has gripped the campus. “It started on 3 October when Bilal’s local classmates asked him for his I-card which he didn’t show. Before this, locals had a fight with Afghans and Afghan students had beaten up two locals,” said the student who didn’t wish to be named.
Bilal is a first-year student of Bachelors in Medical Imaging Technology.
“Bilal was nowhere in picture but the locals were hunting for Afghan students amid this,” said the student, a second-year student who is also pursuing Medical Imaging Technology.
According to him, the Afghan students were already on alert as the locals were looking for them. On 4 October, a mob of locals along with local students who had a minor argument with Bilal over his I-card entered the campus.
“Around 11 am, this mob first caught hold of an Afghan student, Jalal, and two Kashmiri girls. The girls were harassed and hit near the law building after they came out of an examination,” said the student.
“While moving ahead, the local students from the mob pointed fingers at Bilal saying he is the Kashmiri who refused to show his I-card. Bilal was coming out of class from the building (School of Applied Health Sciences),” said the student.
He claimed the mob started beating Bilal mercilessly, who was later taken to hospital.
“The girls were also taken to the hospital. One girl had an injury on her shoulder,” he said.
All the Kashmiri students have been terrified after the incident, said another student on condition of anonymity.
‘Normalcy on campus’
Even as a section of students expressed concern over the situation on campus, the university administration, in an official statement, maintained that “normalcy on the campus is returning fast”.The university, which shut down classes due to the violence, will resume on 10 October.
“The university has taken all necessary steps to maintain peace and harmony on the campus. The enquiry committee is working day and night to identify the culprits and to recommend strict disciplinary action against them,” said Ajit Kumar (Joint Registrar & PRO), Sharda University.
“The personal safety of all students has been ensured and entry of outsiders has been completely restricted. The number of security personnel has been increased considerably and round the clock vigil is being maintained. An advisory has also been sent to all the students to cooperate with the university authorities,” added Kumar.
However, this is not the first time this private university has seen violence which involved foreign students.
In March, the top management and unidentified guards of the university were booked under charges of criminal intimidation and assault by an engineering student after a video showing a student being lifted and thrown out of the varsity’s premises surfaced.
The incident allegedly took place after the student was denied entry because he was carrying cigarettes. An FIR was lodged on the complaint of an engineering student who hails from Saudi Arabia.
