Riyaz Ul Khaliq
KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Following the strike call by separatists against the death of a Kashmiri who was attacked by communal mob in Udhampur last week, the Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) has postponed its first ever convocation.
Speaking to Kashmir Life, Vice Chancellor IUST, Prof A R Trag said, “we have postponed the convocation and it shall be held on Tuesday (Oct 20) at 10:00 AM now.”
Started in 2005, the IUST is holding its first convocation where it shall be awarding degrees to its 2500 graduates. Union HRD Minister, Smriti Zubin Irani, is scheduled to preside over the function.
“The list of the invited guests is same while we have also issued 75 passes to kith and kin of our former students who shall be receiving degrees day after tomorrow,” he added.
Many students have also expressed their resentment and have decided “not to receive degrees certificates from Irani”.
Kashmir Life had received a number of complaints from students that their kith and kin were invited today to IUST campus for issuance of passes for the convocation, however, they alleged, “we were made to wait for hours together and later said, ‘we are yet to decide whether to issue passes or not’.”
Replying to this complaint of students, Prof Trag said, “we were approached by 75 such students and now we have decided to issue passes to all of them.”
An official spokesperson this evening said, Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who is also the Chancellor of the Islamic University of Science & Technology, Awantipora, has ordered postponement of the 1st Convocation of the University, in view of the tragic death of Zahid Ahmad Bhat, who succumbed to his injuries today in Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi, where he was undergoing treatment.”
