Pulwama aftermath: Sikh organisations come to the rescue of distressed Kashmiri students

Humanity comes first for them. The Sikh organisations have come to the rescue of scores of traumatised Kashmiri students who after the Pulwama terror attack faced public fury in Dehradun and Maulana in Haryana by offering them food, accommodation and even monitory help for their transportation.

For the past five-six days, two Mohali based Gurdwaras and Khalsa Aid, an international NGO, have been providing shelter and food to the affected Kashmiri students who arrived in Mohali after 45 CRPF jawans were martyred in the Pulwama terror attack on February 14.

Though the Gurdwara managements and the volunteers of Khalsa Aid were not willing to disclose their identities, the distressed Kashmiri students taking refuge in the Gurdwaras located in Sohana and Phase 3B2 in Mohali, are brimming with praises for them.

Sources say that the Khalsa Aid and Jammu and Kashmir Students Organisation (JKSO) are also collecting funds to airlift the Kashmiri student from Chandigarh to Srinagar.

“Humanity comes first for us,” a Khalsa Aid volunteer said adding that they were making the best possible efforts to provide safe shelter, accommodation and food for the distressed Kashmiri students. Efforts are also being made to arrange for the transportation of those who want to return to their homes fearing attack, he claimed.

Talking to National Herald, president of JKSO, Khwaja Itrat claimed to have sent over 700 Kashmiri students who had arrived Mohali from Dehradun, Maulana near Ambala in Haryana and other states to Jammu.

“More students are expected to arrive in the coming days at Mohali. We have made arrangements for their accommodation and food in a housing society in Landran,” Itrat added.

“The managements of Sohana based Sikh shrine and Phase 3B2, Mohali Gurudwara are kind enough to provide shelter and food for the students,” he says.

He revealed that the Khalsa Aid assisted the JKSO in bringing the stranded Kashmiri students from Dehradun and Maulana to Mohali and then sending them back to Jammu.

“Since all Srinagar is closed due to heavy snowfall so the students who belong to Srinagar, will stop at Jammu where arrangements for their stay and food have been made,” he claimed adding that over a dozen private carriers will leave for Jammu with these students on Tuesday evening.

Itrat informed that over 20,000 Kashmiri students were pursuing their studies in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal. The exodus of Kashmiri students was from Dehradun while Maulana was the second troubled. Punjab and Himachal remained peaceful, he added.

He, however, said that it was difficult to arrange for money to meet airfare expenses to send certain students to Srinagar.

The district administration has provided all the required security to the students, claims Mohali Deputy Commissioner Gurpreet Kaur Sapra. The Senior Superintendent of police and Sub Divisional Magistrates have already been directed to provide them full security cover and escort their vehicles in their jurisdictions while heading towards Jammu.