As a precautionary measure, academic activities at two colleges, including the National Institute of Technology (NIT), were suspended on Thursday, following protests against a student’s social media post that had spilled over to other institutes, officials reported.

Officials at NIT-Srinagar declared a holiday for Thursday, while Islamia College of Science and Commerce canceled all classwork and internal examinations scheduled for the day.

Protests erupted at NIT-Srinagar on Tuesday over a student’s social media post allegedly causing offense to religious sentiments. Demonstrators called for stringent action against the non-local student, who has since been sent home on leave.

During the protests, students blocked both gates of the institution in the Nigeen area of the city and raised slogans within the campus. Subsequently, the police initiated an investigation and filed a case against the student for promoting religious enmity between communities.

Similar protests took place at Amar Singh College and Islamia College on Wednesday in response to the shared videos of the controversial social media post.

Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, VK Birdi, stated on Tuesday that the police received information about a protest at the NIT campus. Upon investigation, it was revealed that a student had posted objectionable content on social media, although the video was not the student’s creation but sourced from YouTube.

Birdi emphasized that the content of the post had hurt the religious feelings of the people. A written complaint from the NIT registrar prompted the police to take legal action under relevant sections of the law, and the investigation is ongoing, the IGP confirmed.

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