Webinar on Kashmir issue at University of California, Indian students had to withdraw after protests

A section of Indian student students in the US strongly objected to the debate on the Jammu and Kashmir issue at the University of California. Indian students at UCSD protest a webinar titled "The Global Freedom Struggle from Kashmir to Palestine" organized by the university's Institute of Arts and Humanities. Indian students said that this issue is an internal matter of the country, debating on it will spread hatred against India.

According to the information received, a webinar was to be organized at the University of California on May 9, in which the topic of the debate was- "colonial occupation" in Kashmir. During their protest, Indian students said that Jammu and Kashmir is a militancy-hit region where India is dealing with Pakistan's covert strategies to disrupt peace for decades.

According to News18, a student said, “It is an internal matter of the country. The university should not be the official host of events where speakers with a separatist agenda are being hosted." A signature campaign was launched on the campus by Indian students to protest the debate and demand the exclusion of the Kashmir issue from the webinar. .

A formal complaint has also been lodged with the Indian Embassy in the US. The protest has also received support from the International Student Union at UCSD. Eventually the university had to withdraw its decision.

An Indian student said, “Indian voices were not taken into account before the university hosted or expanded this webinar. Some of the invited speakers were supporters of separatist and terrorist ideology. By providing a platform to such speaker, the organizers wanted to try to spread propaganda about Kashmir, which is not acceptable to Indian students at any cost. This debate only spreads hatred against our country. That's why we took strong objection to this and raised our voice against this debate in the best way respecting the rules of the university."

One of the Indian students who participated in the protest said that the protest was accepted by the university and the webinar program on the Kashmir issue has now been removed from the program calendar of the university.