Seven Kashmiri students were booked under the UAPA for wearing “pro-Pak” slogans after Australia’s Cricket World Cup final defeat over India

Seven Agriculture University students were detained by Jammu and Kashmir Police under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) on suspicion of chanting pro-Pakistan chants after Australia’s recent Cricket World Cup victory over India.

A Punjabi student at the Ganderbal branch of the Jammu and Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology’s Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry department filed a complaint with the police, claiming that seven Kashmiris had threatened to “shoot him” and yelled pro-Pakistan slogans. Additionally, the complaint said that students from areas other than Jammu and Kashmir were terrified by pro-Pakistan chanting.

The students were prosecuted under Sections 505 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) subsequent to the complaint.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were requested to withdraw the UAPA charges against seven Kashmiri students by the J&K Students Association. Seven Kashmiri students from the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir were detained after celebrating India’s World Cup defeat, according to a statement released by the Association’s National Convenor, Nasir Khuehami. They were then charged under the Unlawful Assembly Provisions Act.

According to Khuehami, charging students under the UAPA is “an unacceptably harsh punishment that could ruin their futures.” “The accusations need to be dropped right now since they will have a negative impact on the students’ academic standing and future careers. It could have detrimental effects in the near and long terms. The accusations must to be dropped right once as they might have major psychosomatic effects on the pupils. Although we do not condone their behavior, Khuehami warned that such severe accusations would lead to their murder in the workplace.

There have always been disputes over cricket in Kashmir and amongst Kashmiris residing outside the area.

Three Kashmiri students who were enrolled at RBS Engineering College UP via the PM Special Scholarship Scheme for J-K students were detained in October 2021 on suspicion of posting a WhatsApp status complimenting Pakistani players after their T20 cricket match triumph over India.

Sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between groups), 505(1)(b) (cause fear or alarm to the public), and section 66F (cyber terrorism) of the Information Technology Act were the legal grounds on which the Agra police had charged them.

A brawl broke out at NIT Srinagar in 2016 during an India vs. West Indies cricket match. First, students from Kashmir celebrated the semifinal victory of the West Indies. They yelled pro-West Indies catchphrases. Students from outside the area were enraged by this and raised the tricolor within the college. Subsequently, they attempted to organize a march beyond the university.

When the Pakistani Foreign Office protested to the deportation of 67 Kashmiri students from Uttar Pradesh for celebrating Pakistan’s win over India in the Asia Cup, a diplomatic spat broke out between India and Pakistan in 2014. When the Swami Vivekananda Subharti University students in Meerut supported the Pakistan cricket team against India, they were ejected from the dormitory.