Valley students rush home as their phones fall silent

Nagpur: Loud devotional music with sound of manjira (cymbal) could be heard climbing up the stairs leading to a modest room, housing Kashmiri students in South Nagpur. Two of them, Sajjad and Saqlain, were in a hurry to reach the Ishwar Deshmukh Physical Education College to meet the principal before he left for the day.
They wanted a month’s leave from the college to join their parents back in their village in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), which had just lost its special status on Monday.
“We are anxious about the siltation at home, as there has been no contact with the family since Sunday night. All the Internet and telephone services have been snapped,” said Sajjad, a first year student of bachelor of physical education (BPE) course. His father passed away a few years ago. The elder brother who is a sub-inspector in J&K police is his guardian. He had joined college a month ago.
“We contacted our families on Sunday but there was a blackout soon, which has left us anxious. We are not bothered about our own safety but we need to be with our parents at this moment. I may not have left if the phones were working at least,” said Sajjad as his two roommates explored modes of travel to reach home.
Physical education colleges of the region like Ishwar Deshmukh have a number of students from erstwhile J&K which included Ladakh. The college also has a residential hostel but most students from Kashmir valley stay in rented accommodation nearby. Those from Jammu and Ladakh could be found in the hostel.
On the move to scrap special status of J&K, most of them preferred not to comment. “It was shocking indeed,” said some as they worried it will now reduce budget allocation to the state and also cut their admission quotas in colleges around the country.
Keshav Bhagat, college’s principal, said since morning he has been receiving requests from a number of Kashmiri students. “They were scared but we are making all arrangements for their safety,” he said.
Ishwar Deshmukh College has been among the favourite destinations for students from the Kashmir valley. “There are many from our village who done courses here and have got good government jobs. We prefer to come to Nagpur because its reputation back in Kashmir. They say, at Nagpur people are cordial and so they are,” said one of the students, “Now our only concern is well-being of our family,” he added.
Bhagat pointed out there were 29 students from Kashmir. “Only five returned to continue education for the second year,” he said.
Owais, an engineering student, said he preferred to stay back in Nagpur. “I joined college a week ago and am also anxious about family after phone lines went dead,” he said.
Meanwhile, Saqlain requested college authorities to allow him at least a fortnight’s leave saying he may also have to stay for a month if the situation remained volatile.