Sameer Gojwari, who declines to receive MBA from Smtiri Irani, is not your regular "anti-national Kashmiri"

Kashmiri student Sameer Gojwari says he will not receive his MBA degree from Smtiri Irani's at convocation

October 18, 2015, NewsCrunch

A Kashmiri MBA graduate, Sameer Gojwari, has announced that he would not accept his degree from Union HRD minister Smriti Irani at Monday's convocation, though her participation is yet to be officially confirmed.

Sameer Gojwari, who has passed out of Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST), said his decision was in protest against  "diminishing freedoms" in the country.

In his Facebook post he referred to the decision of writers across India returning their awards to protest curbs on freedom of speech, among other things.

As  he wrote in a post: "Though, for a student, receiving a master's degree is no less than any prestigious award. But on October 19, (the Convocation Day) I Sameer Gojwari won't accept it,"

IUST is holding its first convocation on Monday and Gojwari, reportedly completed his MBA in 2008. It is not clear why he is being invited to receive his degree now.

Sameer Gojwari's Facebook post not only received wide media coverage but also drew mixed response on social media. While fellow Kashmiris  supported, angry mainland Indians slammed his act, which they thought was provocative.

Sameer Gojwari's social media posts hint that he does fit into the standard notions of "anti-national Kashmiri." He is indeed critical of Indian occupation of Kashmir, but also talks of status of women, development and is  fond of quoting Gandhi.