The NIT stand-off has provided ammunition to the Jammu-based non-BJP parties like the Panthers Party triggering protests in the region. (File Photo)
As the impasse continues at NIT Srinagar, politics over it has taken centre stage.
Opposition parties in the state see the crisis for the newly formed PDP and BJP coalition as an opportunity to consolidate their positions.
The government has maintained that the events at NIT are not due to a fight between Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri students but an administrative issue concerning just the college. "It is not an issue of local (versus) non-local, it is not an issue of security, it is primarily an administrative matter which has to be resolved by the university itself," said Nayeem Akhtar, state Education Minister-and Senior Leader PDP-
But, more than what's happening on the campus is the dilemma for the PDP-BJP combine. The PDP has to manage sentiments in valley where anti-India emotions have seen an upsurge among the youth in the recent months. The BJP, on the other hand, has to live up to its own nationalism benchmark and cater to its electors in Jammu where it won all its seats in the state.
"Every student has a right to hoist the national flag and raise slogans of Bharat Mata Ki Jai, whether in J&K or outside anywhere in India. But, the question is whether such a situation should be allowed to occur when there is clash between students and when the students go out and there is a clash with the local population ," said Nirmal Singh, Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader.
Chief Mehbooba Mufti has been silent on the controversy. Analysts say the issue has the potential to cause a regional divide and severely dent the vote bank of her party in Kashmir while the BJP which won all of its 25 seats from Jammu can lose ground in the region.
The NIT stand-off has provided ammunition to the Jammu-based non-BJP parties like the Panthers Party triggering protests in the region. In Srinagar, separatists have begun protesting attacks on Kashmiri students in other states.