On November 29, the Jammu & Kashmir Police booked a student from the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Srinagar, on charges of “insulting Islam” and “outraging religious feelings,” as protests swept through the Kashmir Valley in response to an objectionable social media post attributed to the student.
A spokesperson for the police stated that they had taken notice of the incident involving the “uploading of sensitive content against religious sentiments of a particular community by one student of the NIT, Srinagar.” A case has been filed under Section 295A (malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 153, and 153A (vilification of the founders and prophets of a religion) of the Indian Penal Code.
The First Information Report (FIR) was lodged following a gathering of hundreds of students on the NIT campus in Srinagar on Tuesday evening, protesting against the non-local engineering student for allegedly sharing the “blasphemous video.”
The incident fueled further protests on November 29, with students from Srinagar’s Amar Singh Degree College taking to the streets in a demonstration. Participants raised pro-Islam slogans and called for strict action against the accused student.
A spokesperson for the Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulama Jammu and Kashmir, a coalition of religious bodies in Kashmir, strongly condemned the alleged blasphemous remarks against the Holy Prophet of Islam, deeming it “totally unacceptable.”
In response to the escalating protests over the objectionable video, the J&K Police appealed to locals “to desist from spreading rumors or false information.” They cautioned against succumbing to the false propaganda of anti-social elements and emphasized that legal action would be taken against those found involved in provocative acts or instigation.