Pulwama aftermath: 200 Kashmiri students from Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand take refuge around Chandigarh

After facing public fury, following Pulwama terror attack in which 45 CRPF jawans were martyred, over 200 Kashmiri students from Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand have taken refuge in Chandigarh, Mohali and surrounding areas.

More than 80 such students including girls from Dehradun (Uttranchal) and Mullana in Haryana have arrived in Mohali alone after vacating their rented accommodations and hostel rooms of their respective colleges. Some have even left for their native places in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sources disclosed that the students are associated with J&K Students Organisation (JKSO) and have been staying in different locations in the outskirts of Chandigarh including Mohali. The Mohali district administration has made adequate arrangements for their stay and security.

Inquiries revealed that over 7000 Kashmiri students studying in various educational institutions across Punjab and Haryana who are either hostlers or staying in rented accommodations. Because of winter vacation, a majority of these students had gone back homes and were not back yet due to heavy the snowfall. Those who are here have been advised to remain inside their college or hostel premises by the authorities concerned taking preventive measure for their security and safety.

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had already made it clear that all Kashmiri students in Punjab would be given full protection by his government. The CM has also issued instructions to the police following the reports of Kashmiri students being targeted and harassed in various states in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack.

No innocent person would be subjected to any harassment in Punjab, Amarinder Singh had warned adding that those trying to perpetrate communal hatred and disharmony in the state will not be spared.

Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police, Harcharan Singh Bhullar said that the Kashmiri students who have reached Mohali from neighboring states have been accommodated in safe places. "Adequate security measures have been taken for their security and safety. Even the police patrol has been intensified in and around the educational institutions housing students from Kashmir," he added.

Rashpal Singh, administrator, Sri Sukhmani Group of Institutions in Dera Bassi, says that the college management has advised Kashmiri students, pursuing studies in their institution, to remain indoors and not to indulge in any controversy. The security in and around the colleges and the hostel have been beefed up with the help of the police department, he added.

On Sunday more than 150 Kashmiri students studying in various educational institutes of Dehradun were forced to flee the Doon valley due to sustained attacks and harassment by RSS and BJP activists. Similarly nearly 150 youths from Kashmir residing in rented accommodation in Mullana village near Ambala in Haryana also faced the public fury and were asked to vacate their places by the locals and the panchayat members soon after the Pulwama attack.

The thousands of Kashmiri students are pursuing their studied in a number of educational institutions in the Northern states of the country to avail the benefits provided by the Indian government under PM Scholarship Scheme launched by the UPA government. Under this scheme the Union HRD Minister has been bearing all the expenses of every Kashmiri student including his fee, boarding and lodging and others.

Though they have a fixed quota for Kashmiri students in every educational institution across the country, the Ministry has also issued guidelines in this context so the students from the Valley are not barred from their right to education.