Symbiosis seminar on Kashmir deferred over documentary

Pune, Jan 31: The Symbiosis College here has deferred a seminar on Kashmir after objections by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and an organisation representing displaced Kashmiri Pandits.

Representatives of ABVP, the student wing of BJP, and Panun Kashmir, who met the college authorities yesterday, said the proposed screening of a documentary, Jashn-e-Azadi', at the seminar, Voices of Kashmir', projected the militants in the Valley as "heroes" and was critical of the Indian Army.

This was not acceptable, they maintained."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 of ABVP said today.

Rohit Bhat, Coordinator of Pune chapter of PK, told PTI that the proposed seminar should be more "inclusive" and project a balanced view of the situation in the militancy-hit state which also includes Jammu and Ladakh regions.

A Symbiosis spokesman said the three-day meet was being postponed. He said the meet was intended to be an "apolitical and academic event" without hurting anybody's sentiments.

The college has not announced new dates for the postponed event.

PTI