April 29, 2025
PUDR expresses deep concern over the unchecked Islamophobia, the violation of rights during the ongoing crackdown in the region, and the harassment of Kashmiri students across the country following the cold-blooded killings of 26 civilians, primarily tourists, in Pahalgam on April 22, 2025.
Currently, civilian life in Kashmir is under greater threat as security forces in Kashmir have razed houses of suspected militants who are linked with the killings, raided properties of alleged sympathizers, and detained scores of people for questioning. As many as 175 persons have been detained by April 26, 2025, in Anantnag district alone.
Amid information of continuing cordon and search operations in Kashmir, disconcerting news is emerging from educational institutions in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, where Kashmiri Muslim students are facing attacks and reprisals, both physically and virtually from hatemongers. In Dehradun, members of vigilante group, Hindu Raksha Dal reportedly threatened students and told them to leave the city immediately. While media reports state that the Uttarakhand DGP has constituted a special team for Dehradun city to ensure the safety of Kashmiri students, and a criminal case has been registered against the Hindu Raksha Dal, these targeted attacks and the nature of these reprisals recall the backlash that Kashmiri students faced after the Pulwama attacks of February 2019.
The history of harassment of Kashmiri students is much older than either Pahalgam or Pulwama. It bears remembering that in 2011, the PMSSS (Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme) was introduced to financially assist meritorious students from Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir by enabling them to study in government institutions outside their domicile. The scheme was launched in the wake of the stone pelting incidents in which over a 100 youth were killed, and the attempt was to integrate Kashmiri Muslim students into the mainstream. Even though the scheme reportedly went into ‘shambles’ because of funding issues, a significant number of Kashmiri Muslim students enrolled in institutions in different states, a number higher than those who had come to study prior to 2010.
Ironically, between 2013 and 2016, at least 30 incidents of attacks on Kashmiri students were reported and the reasons varied from student rivalry to cricket matches. At least 10 students were expelled from Meerut University in 2014 for allegedly cheering for a Pakistan cricket team. It is difficult to estimate either the number or the nature of attacks that have happened in the last decade, but it is important to remember that after Pulwama (2019), there were violent attacks on Kashmiri students and professionals. While 10 students were booked and 24 were rusticated across the country for what was described as their “anti-national” social media posts, 800 students felt threatened and left Uttarakhand, whilst over a 100 were forced out of their rented accommodation in Ambala.
Keeping in mind that as many as 8600 students were studying under the PMSSS, in 2019, the Supreme Court had directed 11 states to ensure the safety of Kashmiris. Today, in the wake of Pahalgam, it is worth asking why the apex court’s directives were not followed in educational institutions, as the then CJI’s bench had specifically reiterated necessary actions against “threats, assault and social boycott and other coercive acts against Kashmiris and other minorities in the aftermath of the terrorist attack of February 14 [2019]”.
The Pahalgam killings of April 2025 were reprehensible and there was strong condemnation from all sections and groups of Jammu and Kashmir. So, why then are Kashmiri students being targeted? Why are many trying to return home now, leaving their semester studies aside? Why is it that five students of BFIT, Dehradun, left campus at 2 am for the airport? Or, why is it that a student in TIET Patiala should remember how he hid in his room for a week after Pulwama and say, “We are either invisible or accused. There is no-between”? Why are online sexualized threats being issued to Kashmiri women by Hindu right wing handles? And, why was a female student assaulted by a mess worker in Jamia Milia University on April 27, 2025?
Kashmiri students, dispersed across various institutions in different states, are dependent upon their institutions for their safety and protection. Many live in rented accommodations and are vulnerable to attacks and threats by vigilante groups.
PUDR appeals to civil society, the local administration and educational institutions to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all Kashmiri students.
PUDR demands:
- An immediate end to the ongoing harassment of Kashmiri people in different states and cities
- That educational institutions must ensure the safety and well-being of all Kashmiri students
- That action be taken by the local administration against assaulters and attackers
- That appropriate action be taken by local administration against online threats issued by individuals and by vigilante groups.
