Supreme Court to hear tomorrow plea seeking protection for Kashmiri students facing threats across India

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a plea seeking protection for Kashmiri students who have been facing threats across the country since the  terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama  district on 14 February. Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi agreed to hear the petition on Friday after Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves raised the matter before the court, Live Law reported.

Kashmiri students across India have been facing threats to their safety in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack , in which 42 CRPF personnel were killed. F ringe elements have targeted Kashmiris , especially students, in several states up north.

The petitioner in the case is practicing lawyer Tariq Adeeb,  Bar and Bench reported. It prays for directions to be issued to heads of institutes to take steps to protect Kashmiris, as well as prosecution of persons indulging in hate speech.

The plea has also sought the appointment of a senior officer as a nodal officer in every state and Union Territory and sensitise districts to prevent acts of violence and vigilantism and ensure prosecution of offenders.

On Monday, students from Kashmir at Maharishi Markandeshwar University in Ambala were forced to leave their rented accommodations after protests by villagers.

On Saturday, four paramedical students of NIMS University in Jaipur were suspended for posting an “anti-national” WhatsApp status allegedly supporting the attack.

Kashmiri students across Dehradun were also targeted after a medical student studying there allegedly  shared an objectionable comment on a WhatsApp group on the attack.

Chaos ensued in Dehradun after the incident, with reports of 20 Kashmiri students allegedly locking themselves in their hostel out of fear of the angry mob outside. The Uttarakhand Police had  issued an alert on Sunday urging citizens to not believe the “rumours”. The next day, the Dehradun Police registered an FIR against former JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) leader Shehla Rashid in connection with the incident.

Meanwhile, in Jammu, mobs set ablaze dozens of vehicles belonging to Kashmiri drivers ferrying tourists and local residents across the Pir Panjal. The violence forced authorities to  impose a curfew  and increase police patrol around areas inhabited by Kashmiri Muslims.

In other places, landlords threatened Kashmiris tenants, who are mostly students, with eviction.

With inputs from agencies