Pulwama encounter: AMU’s Kashmiri student writes to VC that tweet inspired from movie

AGRA: Suspended Kashmiri student of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Basim Hilal, who was booked by the district police for hailing the Pulwama attack, has written to the vice chancellor saying that his tweet was inspired by the movie “Uri”.


In a tweet, Hilal, who is pursuing BSc in mathematics, wrote, “How’s the Jaish? Great Sir” and used the hashtags ‘Kashmir’ and ‘Pulwama’. Hilal claimed that he was referring to a dialogue from the recent Bollywood film Uri, which is based on the Army’s 2016 surgical strikes in Pakistan.

According to university’s proctor, Mohsin Khan, Hilal’s reply has been forwarded to the committee formed by the university to investigate the matter. He said, a delegation of Kashmiri students also submitted an application pleading the authorities to revoke his suspension. He said, the matter is being investigated and action will be taken on the basis of report submitted by the committee.

Hilal, who hails from Beerwah town of J&K, posted a tweet on Feb 14 soon after a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber blew up a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bus in Jammu and Kashmir, killing 40 personnel. The attack in Pulwama district attracted widespread condemnation from across the world.

The varsity immediately suspended Hilal for committing acts of “indiscipline and misconduct” and also barred his entry to the campus. The varsity officials stated that the varsity has zero tolerance towards such acts.

Hilal was booked under IPC’s section 153A (promoting enmity between two different religions) and also section 67 (for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act on the basis of a complaint filed by police media cell incharge, Govind Ballabh Sharma.

In September 2016, a Kashmiri student, Mudassar Yusuf, was expelled from the university for posting “objectionable” comments on Facebook after a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri.