New Delhi: Several Kashmiri students here said they were in a state of fear after reports of alleged harassment of Kashmiris following the Pulwama terror attack. However, the police asserted that security had been enhanced in the national capital and they would ensure the safety of all citizens.
A Kashmiri student from Jamia Millia Islamia, who did not wish to be identified, said Sunday, “Just the fact that one is a Kashmiri, irrespective of his ideology or leanings, is enough to put one’s life to risk. It is happening across the country. Kashmiri students are being harassed and hounded, be it Dehradun, Ambala or Bangalore. We really fear for our security here too.”
JNU activist Shehla Rashid, who hails from Kashmir, said that Kashmiri students were being harassed. “Throughout India, mobs are attacking Kashmiri students, verbally abusing them, asking for them to be expelled and filing false cases against them. The pretext being given in each case is that they said Pakistan Zindabad and even police is buying into these false claims,” pointed out Rashid.
Noting that it was happening in other cities and it could happen in the national capital too, she said there was an intense sense of fear of mob lynching among students.
Anis Ahmed, a Kashmiri student at Delhi University, said, “We are not at all reacting on social media to any abuses which are being hurled at us even if we are being labeled as terrorists. Students who are staying on rented accommodations rather than hostels are even more scared about their safety.”
Deputy Commissioner of Police Madhur Verma tweeted that security had been strengthened all across the city here, including minority dominated areas.
“Visibility of police personnel has been increased. We’ll ensure the safety and security of every citizen, including Kashmiri inhabitants and students living in Delhi,” asserted Verma.
The Home Ministry earlier Saturday issued an advisory to all states and Union territories to take measures to ensure the safety and security of Kashmiris.
The advisory came hours after Home Minister Rajnath Singh assured an all-party meeting of doing the needful for the protection of the Kashmiri students and people who were allegedly threatened after the terrorist attack.
Some Kashmiri youths studying in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun had alleged that they were harassed and were being asked by their landlords to vacate accommodations as they feared attacks on their properties in the aftermath of the Pulwama incident.
PTI