NEW DELHI: Extremist Hindu nationalists went on the rampage at a university in central India over an aid appeal for victims of devastating floods in India-held Kashmir, the vice chancellor said on Tuesday.

The mob of young men stormed the Vikram University campus in Ujjain city on Monday, breaking windows, throwing furniture and trying to smash ceiling fans with wooden sticks, footage aired on national television showed.

Jawaharlal Kaul said the attack occurred after the university issued an appeal to help any Kashmiri students affected by the floods that have claimed several hundred lives and devastated the disputed region’s main city of Srinagar.

“There was an appeal issued by us for helping Kashmiri boys who are studying here... there was an appeal by the state government as well,” the vice-chancellor told the NDTV network.

“They (the attackers) said they were from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal,” said Mr Kaul, referring to rightwing militant outfits linked to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

Many Kashmiris oppose Indian rule and want independence or merger of their Himalayan region with Pakistan.

Mr Kaul said he had appealed through a local newspaper in Madhya Pradesh state for help to aid students whose families were thought caught in Kashmir’s worst floods in a century.

“Particularly the landlords (of the students) were requested by me not to ask for rent for a couple of months until the situation is over,” he said.

The mob stormed Mr Kaul’s office, demanding an explanation for wanting to help Kashmiri students, before the violence broke out, he said.

“In about 10-15 minutes they broke all the office furniture,” said Mr Kaul who was taken to hospital after being shaken by the ordeal.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2014