Seven students from Kashmir have been booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and arrested for cheering India's loss against Australia in the November 19 World Cup Final. The students have been charged with public mischief and criminal intimidation under Section 13 of the UAPA and Sections 505 and 506 of the IPC

Srinagar (J&K): Following a confrontation with students from outside the Union territory over India's defeat by Australia in the men's cricket World Cup 2023 final on November 19, seven Kashmiri students enrolled at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal have been arrested.

The students have been charged with public mischief and criminal intimidation under Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Sections 505 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), according to a copy of the First Information Report (FIR) that ETV Bharat was able to access.

"A student from Punjab has complained about the seven final year students of SKUAST - K (Shuhama campus) that he was threatened with dire consequences after Australia defeated India in the men's cricket World Cup 2023 final on November 19," a senior police official said.

The official further said, "An FIR (317/2023) has been registered on the basis of a written complaint by Sachin Bains, a resident of Punjab and a student of the university, against seven final year students of the SKUAST - K (Shuhama campus). The Kashmiri students named by the complainant have been identified as Umer, Asif, Mohsin, Tauqeer, Khalid, Sameer and Ubaid. Further investigation in the case is currently underway."

The student, Sachin, has filed a complaint alleging that he was "abused" and "threatened" by seven Kashmiri students who are enrolled in the university's veterinary sciences and animal husbandry department because he supported India. The complaint further alleges that "they also threatened me to shut up otherwise I would be shooted [sic]."

In addition, the complainant said that following the game, the accused students raised pro-Pakistan slogans (Jeeve Jeeve Pakistan), "which created fear among the students from outside the Union territory of J&K." There have been previous instances of local and non-local students in an educational institution in Jammu and Kashmir clashing over a cricket match.

In 2021, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act was invoked by the Jammu and Kashmir Police to arrest medical college staff and students who had celebrated Pakistan's triumph over India in the T20 World Cup.

Before this, students from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Srinagar got into an argument in 2016 following India's T20 World Cup semi-final loss to the West Indies. There were violent altercations after the non-local students accused the local Kashmiri students of cheering India's defeat. The cops used tear gas shells and a lathi-charge on campus when the altercations got out of control. Students from outside the Kashmir valley also demanded that the institute's campus be moved as a result of the incident.