Greater Noida: WhatsApp
groups that were created to garner support for the protests against Afghan students studying at Sharda
University have started getting disbanded. With the varsity threatening action against those involved in indiscipline, students have started leaving the groups one by one while the self-styled leaders at the forefront of the protests have started “appealing” for peace.
According to university officials, members of the WhatsApp groups had been influenced by the two vigilante activists who had protested against Afghan students outside the university campus on Tuesday and Wednesday. The activists — Deepak Sharma, who identifies himself as the founder of the Rashtriya Swabhiman Dal — and Ved Nagar — who called himself the national president of the Gau Raksha Hindu Dal — are yet to be arrested.
Administrators of at least one of the WhatsApp groups created to mobilise students for the protests have now started appealing for peace. “The groups have started getting disbanded as the students are scared of action against them. The groups were formed to unite Indian students from Vivekanda and Vardhamaan hostels. But now, the students are exiting the groups one by one,” said a first-year journalism students. The Afghan students who are among the 38 charged by the administration under CrPC sections 107 and 116 visited the Knowledge Park police station on Monday. “We had gone to the police station for some legal formalities. I have not informed my parents back home. It might create trouble there,” said an Afghan student.
Arvind Pathak, the SHO, said the police would soon arrest the two accused vigilantes.