SRINAGAR: The administration of Kashmir University was today left red-faced as students and some faculty members chose not to stand up for India’s national anthem at the start of a function.
Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir was the chief guest and the audience was students and staff of the University’s department of Law, High Court Judges and other judicial staff.
The Press Trust of India reports that as soon as the Chief Justice and some other dignitaries entered the convocation hall of the university here, the national anthem was played.
And while the rest stood up in attention, the students and some staff members of the varsity remained seated.
The officials of the Kashmir University have refused to comment on the incident.
Pro-freedom sentiment runs deep among people in Kashmir where an armed uprising began in the early nineties.
Observers say that due to the political situation in the valley people would dissociate themselves from every symbol representing the country.
Last year, after students refused to stand up for the anthem during a function, the state’s Governor NN Vohra held a meeting of the Heads of the Departments of the University and the Vice Chancellor and directed them to ensure that such things did not happen in the future.
