KASHMIR SEMINAR SCHEDULED IN PUNE POSTPONED, AMID PROTEST
Srinagar Jan 31 (Only Kashmir): A university in western India has postponed a seminar on Kashmir after Hindu groups objected to its "anti-nationalist" programme.
The Symbiosis University in the city of Pune also cancelled the screening of a controversial film on the Indian army's role in Kashmir.
University authorities say they will "revisit and rethink" the seminar programme to make it "more balanced".
Kashmir is divided into Pakistani- and Indian-administered areas.
Both nations claiming the region in its entirety. They have fought two of their three wars since 1947 over Kashmir.
The development also comes in the wake of an intensified debate in India over free speech.
A spokesman for the Symbiosis University told the Media that the three-day seminar, Voices of Kashmir, which was scheduled to begin on Friday, was being postponed.
He said the seminar was intended to be an "apolitical and academic event", without hurting anybody's sentiments.
Reports say that representatives of the student wing of the Hindu nationalist BJP, and another Hindu group, met college authorities and protested against the screening of a documentary film by filmmaker Sanjay Kak that is critical of the army's role in Indian-administered Kashmir.
"We submitted a memorandum to the college authorities against offering a platform to anti-national elements at the seminar and they told us that the seminar would be postponed," a spokesman for the student wing told the Media.
The Symbiosis University in the city of Pune also cancelled the screening of a controversial film on the Indian army's role in Kashmir.
University authorities say they will "revisit and rethink" the seminar programme to make it "more balanced".
Kashmir is divided into Pakistani- and Indian-administered areas.
Both nations claiming the region in its entirety. They have fought two of their three wars since 1947 over Kashmir.
The development also comes in the wake of an intensified debate in India over free speech.
A spokesman for the Symbiosis University told the Media that the three-day seminar, Voices of Kashmir, which was scheduled to begin on Friday, was being postponed.
He said the seminar was intended to be an "apolitical and academic event", without hurting anybody's sentiments.
Reports say that representatives of the student wing of the Hindu nationalist BJP, and another Hindu group, met college authorities and protested against the screening of a documentary film by filmmaker Sanjay Kak that is critical of the army's role in Indian-administered Kashmir.
"We submitted a memorandum to the college authorities against offering a platform to anti-national elements at the seminar and they told us that the seminar would be postponed," a spokesman for the student wing told the Media.
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