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Row breaks out over Tarek Fatah comment Against Kashmiri Student at Panjab University

December 1, 2016 | By Shubh Karman Dhaliwal (IE)

Chandigarh: A HUGE row broke out between Panjab University students and Pakistan-born Canadian writer Tarek Fatah after the latter allegedly called a J&K student “terrorist”. Tarek had been invited to deliver a Tedx talk on Balochistan. After the fracas, the organisers called off his talk, scheduled for Thursday.

Gagandeep Singh Dhillon, a PhD scholar in geography, said: “I was sitting at the physics canteen when Tarek came and began an informal interaction with students. We were discussing yesterday’s Nagrota [..] attack. When he was talking to us, the department librarian came. When the students rose to show respect, Tarek told them, ‘Indians need to stop giving such treatment to their seniors’.”

Dhillon said Tarek mocked at the librarian and asked him to tell the students to sit. Immediately, an altercation ensued. Among those arguing was Mustafa, a PhD scholar from Kargil. “Tarek was saying, ‘He would not stand up for his own father, why are you all standing up for this person’. When I objected, he told me, ‘Hey you gori chamdi, where are you from?’ When Mustafa replied, Tarek allegedly responded with ‘You’re a Pakistani terrorist, you’re an anti-national’.”

Also, Tarek allegedly told Dhillon, “You are a Khalistani.”

Another PhD student Ganeshwari said when she asked Tarek his opinion about her, he said, “You are the real patriot because of your religion.”

Tarek said he called Mustafa a Pakistani “because he was behaving like one”. He said before the altercation, the group was discussing Tuesday’s terror attack. “My view was that India needs to retaliate in the strongest terms. That upset him leading to an argument.”

According to Tarek, suddenly, “a dozen men” arrived. “This was an attack planned by the Congress youth wing and people backing Left ideology.”

A PU spokesman said, “The university neither invited anyone nor cancelled any event.”

Note: Above content was originally published on the website of The Indian Express (IE) under title: Row breaks out over Tarek Fatah comment at Panjab University by Shubh Karman Dhaliwal at source url: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/row-breaks-out-over-tarek-fatah-comment-at-panjab-university-4404142/ . Its reproduced as above for the information of readers/visitors of the Sikh Siyasat News (SSN).

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Related Topics: Kashmir Issue, Punjab University, Punjab University Chandigarh

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