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Three students of Aligarh Muslim University were reportedly suspended on Thursday, 11 October, for offering prayers for the death of Manan Wani, according to The Times of India.
The suspended students were offering 'Janaje ki Namaz' following the death of the former research scholar-turned-Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist, said The Times of India report.
However, Omar Peerzada, Public Relation Officer at AMU, has denied the reports. According to a tweet by ANI, Peerzada has denied any news of funeral prayers at the university, calling it false.
Peerzada said no such thing has happened,“nor we will let it happen”. He added that there was an ‘unlawful’ assembly of a few students, which was stopped by other students.
There was no comment on the suspension of any student, though.
The university issued notices to nine students over the incident, Shafey Kidwai of the university’s PRO department told ANI.
Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants, including a PhD scholar-turned-militant Manan Bashir Wani, were killed on Thursday, 11 October, during an encounter with security forces at Handwara in frontier district of north Kashmir, officials said.
While diverging details emerging from the encounter site, which has now ended, police and other security forces were fired upon by holed up militants resulting in exchange of fire which continued till 11 AM.
The Aligarh Muslim University Students Union President, Maksoor Ahmad Usmani said that the university had written letters to the prime minister, Home Minister and the DGP of Kashmir when reports said that Manan had joined militant forces. He also condemned the unlawful assembly by Kashmiri students within the university.
He also said that the government should look into why bright students quit studies to join militancy.
“The government should think of the reasons why such a bright research scholar quit studies and joined the militancy. Maybe he thought that this was the only way to convey his message. The government should take this matter seriously so that no other youth thinks of taking such a step”, he said.
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Mehbooba Mufti termed the death of Wani a “loss”.
Wani was a resident of Tiki Pora, Sogam, Kupwara. The other terrorists killed in the encounter on Thursday has been identified as Ashiq Hussain Zargar, a resident of Tulwari in Langate, reported ANI.
Police was also making repeated announcements on the public address system appealing to the militants to surrender, the officials said.
Wani, who was enrolled as a PhD scholar with the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), joined militant ranks in January earlier this year.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI and The Times of India)
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