J&K: Six-day police custody for 'anti-India' prof

The professor of a college in Srinagar arrested on charges of setting a question paper 'with anti-India content' was on Saturday remanded to six- day police custody by a local court.

Noor Mohammad Bhat, who teaches English in Gandhi Memorial College, was arrested by the police under the Unlawful Activities Act on Friday.

A senior police officer said Bhat had set the English paper for the graduate- level examination asking examinees to 'discuss stone-pelters as real heroes'.

Another question in translation from Urdu to English said, "The blood of young Kashmiris is being spilled by the Indian security forces as the state government watches the situation helplessly."

However, Kashmir college teachers association has defended the right of the paper setter maintaining that he had asked a contemporary question that had caught the imagination of the youth and the local population during the recent unrest in Kashmir, which lasted for over four month.

 "He is a teacher, a literary personality who keenly observes the happenings of the surroundings. So when he was asked to set the paper, he translated his observations and feelings on paper," said Tariq Ashai, the president of the association.   

Ashai said the association met the authorities and demanded his release.