Hundreds of Kashmiris are facing threats of violence and are being forced out of cities across India after a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into a convoy of paramilitary personnel, killing 44 troops in Pulwama in Indian-administered Kashmir last week.
The attack is said to be the worst on Indian troops in the three-decade-long insurgency in Kashmir. The banned group Jaish-e-Mohammad is reported to have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Since the attack last Thursday there have been several incidents of violence against Kashmiri students and traders in some parts of North India with emotions running high.
Social media videos showed men holding sticks ransacking stalls of Kashmiri traders at a market in Bihar, asking them to leave. As one trader tried to reason with the man, one of them hit a trader.
Kashmiri students take refuge at a Sikh temple in Mohali, Punjab. Source: Facebook
Hundreds of Kashmiri students told to leave education facilities
Hundreds of Kashmiri students studying in colleges outside Kashmir were forced to leave after right-wing groups threatened violence against them.
Nasir Kuehami, the spokesperson for the Jammu & Kashmir Students Association told SBS Punjabi that over 700 Kashmiri students have been evacuated from Dehradun, Ambala, Jaipur and Shimla.
“Our first effort is to take them to our shelters in Delhi and Chandigarh and from there, arrangements are made to send them back to Kashmir, “ Mr Khuehami told SBS Punjabi.
Many individuals and groups - including one started by the CRPF, the paramilitary force that lost its soldiers in the Pulwama attack - have offered assistance to Kashmiris facing threats of violence.
Many of those students have found shelter at a Sikh temple in Mohali, Punjab.
“Most of the evacuated students are being housed at a gurdwara in Mohali and Khalsa Aid is providing us buses to transport the students to Jammu,” said Mr Khuehami who says he is inundated with calls for help.
“I am receiving up to 300 calls every day for help.”
Mr Khuehami said following the Pulwama attack, some Kashmiri students posted “anti-India” posts on social media which irked members of the right-wing organisations.
“The ABVP and the Bajrang Dal were protesting and they beat up some Kashmiri students, two of whom were left bleeding,” he said.
According to media reports, colleges in Uttrakhand where over 4,000 Kashmiri students are studying, have been told not to admit any students from Kashmir.
An office bearer of Bajrang Dal – a hardline Hindutva organisation in Dehradun told the Times of India, "We will ensure that no Kashmiri Muslim studies or stays here.”
In Mullana near Ambala, an announcement was made to “throw out” all young Kashmir men and women from their rental accommodations,” the Huffington Post reported.
This prompted a strike in the Kashmir Valley that forced a complete shutdown on Sunday in protest of the attacks against Kashmiris in various parts of India.
While politicians from across the political divide in Kashmir have condemned the attacks on students, Mr Khuehami said his appeals for help to most of them failed to elicit any action.
“I contacted all of them but they haven’t done anything. I reached out to the Governor house, and they haven’t even responded,” he told SBS Punjabi.
