{"id":29389,"date":"2023-11-28T20:41:05","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T20:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/students-arrested-in-iiojk-for-celebrating-indias-wc-defeat-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2023-11-28T20:41:05","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T20:41:05","slug":"students-arrested-in-iiojk-for-celebrating-indias-wc-defeat-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/students-arrested-in-iiojk-for-celebrating-indias-wc-defeat-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Students arrested in IIOJK for \u2018celebrating\u2019 India\u2019s WC defeat | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nSRINAGAR:
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Police in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) have arrested seven university students under tough anti-terrorism laws for alleged intimidation after they celebrated Australia’s victory over India in the Cricket World Cup final.<\/p>\n

Police said Tuesday that the students were arrested following “anti-India sloganeering and intimidation of others who did not agree with them” after the match.<\/p>\n

Hosts India were favourites to capture the one-day cricket crown in the November 19 final but they lost to Australia in a six-wicket defeat.<\/p>\n

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947, with both claiming the high-altitude territory in full, but administering separate portions of it.<\/p>\n

Freedom fighters have waged an insurgency in IIOJK since 1989, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan. The conflict has left tens of thousands dead.<\/p>\n

Police said the Kashmiri students at an agriculture university were arrested last week after a complaint filed by another student, who came from outside the territory.<\/p>\n

Also read:\u00a0Australian cricketer Mitchell Marsh booked for ‘offending Indian fans’<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

“They started abusing me and targeting me for being supporter of my country and also threatened me to shut up otherwise I would be shooted (sic),” the police case file seen by AFP<\/em> notes, quoting the complainant.<\/p>\n

Police charged the seven students under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), a stringent anti-terrorism law, as well as other sections of the penal code.<\/p>\n

Many people in IIOJK support any cricket team playing against India \u2013 including arch-rival Pakistan \u2013 and fireworks were set off in the main city Srinagar to celebrate Australia’s victory.<\/p>\n

The arrests were criticised by Mehbooba Mufti, Kashmir’s former chief minister.<\/p>\n

“Why is there so much fear, restlessness and paranoia only because some students celebrated Australia’s victory?” Mufti told reporters on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

“You… want to destroy their lives for cheering the team of their choice and for expressing happiness when that team plays well. I condemn it,” she said.<\/p>\n

India has used the vaguely worded UAPA legislation against thousands of Kashmiri residents, journalists and dissidents, according to activists.<\/p>\n

It allows people to be held for six months \u2013 often rolled over \u2013 without being charged, and bail is virtually impossible.<\/p>\n

In 2021, police detained six residents and opened an investigation under UAPA against several hundred students in the territory who celebrated when Pakistan defeated India in a high-octane T20 World Cup cricket match in Dubai.<\/p>\n

Police in Kashmir’s Ganderbal district on Tuesday issued a statement on X, formerly Twitter, to explain the context of the recent arrests, which they claimed were not about “airing personal preference of a particular sporting team”.<\/p>\n

Instead, it was “about terrorising others who may be nourishing pro-India feelings or anti-Pakistan feelings or disagreeing”, it said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n