Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday snubbed Farooq Abdullah’s request for talks with Islamabad as all around him Kashmiris erupted in joy at Pakistan’s victory over India in the T20 World Cup.

Valley residents burst firecrackers overnight and videos showed Kashmiris, apparently including students from a premier medical college in Srinagar, dancing and cheering Pakistan’s victory.

Shah, visiting Jammu and Kashmir since Saturday, did not react to the celebrations but officials said they had come as an embarrassment for lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha’s administration.

Some Kashmiri students studying in neighbouring Punjab have alleged their counterparts from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Haryana barged into their rooms and roughed them up for celebrating Pakistan’s win.

Nasir Khouhami, national spokesperson for the Jammu and Kashmir Students’ Association, said over a dozen students were beaten up, seven suffering grievous injuries.

Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti appeared to justify the celebrations.

“Why such anger against Kashmiris for celebrating Pak’s win? Some are even chanting murderous slogans — desh ke gadaaron ko goli maaro/ calling to shoot traitors,” she tweeted.

“One hasnt forgotten how many celebrated by distributing sweets when J&K was dismembered & stripped of special status.”

Shah bristled at Srinagar MP and former chief minister Farooq’s call for talks with Pakistan.

“I read in newspapers that Farooq Abdullah has suggested the government should talk to Pakistan. He has a right to his opinion but we would rather talk to the Kashmiri youth,” Shah told a gathering at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre on the Dal Lake’s shores.

“But I want to tell Farooq Sahab and all of you that if there has to be talks, I shall hold them with my brothers and sisters from the Valley, with the youth of the Valley. Why should I not talk to you, we want to talk to you, that is why I extended the hand of friendship to the youth of the Valley.”

Shah is on his first visit to Jammu and Kashmir since the August 2019 dilution of Article 370, arriving amid a spurt in militant violence. He has during the trip made repeated peace overtures to the youth, saying they and not the Indian government can weed out militancy.

Shah was to end his visit on Monday but has extended it by a day, apparently to be part of “Accession Day” celebrations. Jammu and Kashmir had acceded to India on October 26, 1947.

At the gathering, Shah asked the organisers to remove the bullet-proof screen so he could talk to the audience “frankly” and “without any security”.

The venue, however, has been off limits for ordinary citizens for the past three days, with all the roads leading to it sealed. The few hundred visitors who attended the event were thoroughly screened before entering.

Shah said those who advocate talks with Islamabad and separatists should be asked what Pakistan had done for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

“Compare the development between this side and PoK. Do they have electricity, roads, healthcare and toilets? There is nothing (on the other side). You have the same rights as any other Indian,” he said.

Shah vowed to eradicate militancy and end the civilian killings. He said he had been taunted and condemned “in very harsh words” after he announced the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019.

He defended the Internet curbs and curfew imposed in the aftermath of the constitutional changes, claiming “some people would have misled the masses” and killings would have taken place.