After attacks, Kashmiri students continue to come home

After facing continuous attacks and threats, hundreds of students from Kashmir studying outside state are returning home.

This comes in the aftermath of the deadly terror attack in Pulwama last week in which 49 CRPF men were killed.

“The students are leaving from Dehradun, Haryana, Jalandar and Jaipur as we are not feeling secure there. We were harassed by mobs who also threatened our landlords for providing us accommodations,” said one of the students who reached Jammu on Tuesday along with other 50 others.

The students are putting up at Makkah Masjid relief camp in Jammu, setup for Kashmiris returning from outside the state.

“The height of harassment is that we were not provided any transport facility by transporters in Dehradun. Transporters said they have decided to socially boycott Kashmiri students and said that they won’t ferry us to our homes,” the student said.

The Jammu and Kashmir government has appointed liaison officers in various states to remain in constant touch with local administrations and college authorities to ensure that the “students from J&K are not put to any inconvenience.”

However, a Kashmiri female student said that they returned home after the university authorities informed them to do so.

“Students living in university hostels are relatively safe but those putting up in rented accommodations are facing harassment,” she said.

Earlier, a video surfaced on social media wherein some people were asking Kashmiri students to vacate their accommodations in Mullana.

In another video, two Kashmiri students were threatened to vacate their private accommodation. The development was confirmed by Mullana Police that said that an FIR was registered in this regard.

The management of two colleges in Dehradun have reportedly decided not to admit Kashmiri students anymore in their institutes.

Several Kashmiri students have been suspended by their respective colleges and universities in the past four-days for alleged anti-national posts on social media after the Pulwama terror attack.

Meanwhile, curfew was relaxed in Jammu for a couple of hours on Tuesday. Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, Rakesh Kumar, said that the decision on extending the curfew would be taken at around 8 pm on Tuesday, after looking at how things remain during the relaxation period.

Large scale violence was witnessed in the city on Friday in which Kashmiris were attacked and their vehicles set ablaze.

Scores of Kashmiris said they are being intimidated for no fault of theirs.

“What does it mean when they raise slogans Kashmirio bago (Kashmiris run away). The irony is that they are being backed by a certain political party,” said a Kashmiri employee living at Janipur in Jammu.

He added that though many “mischievous elements involved in attacks on Kashmiris were arrested, but they were let off after intervention of a local corporator. They had a hand in Janipur attacks.”