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MIRPUR (AJK), Apr 25 (APP):Days after the terror attack in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s (IIOJK) Pahalgam in which 26 people – mostly tourists – were killed, reports also appeared of Kashmiri students being assaulted and harassed by the majority Hindu community at Punjab and Uttarakhand, the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) on Friday said.
A report received here from across the Line of Control (LoC ) that the IIOJK, Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah said that his government was in touch with his counterparts in the Indian States where such terrible incidents had emerged.
“The J&K government is in touch with the governments of the States where these reports are originating from. I’m also in touch with my counterpart Chief Ministers in these States and have requested they take extra care,” Abdullah said.
The IIOJK state government also issued helpline numbers for students of the State studying in different parts of India, in case of need for assistance, help, the report revealed.
Speaking to the media persons the Kashmiri students of Universal Group of Institutions (UGI) in Lalru, Punjab, said that a group of students from ‘other States’ attacked over a dozen of Kashmiri students in the intervening night of April 23 and 24, according to the report.
“The attackers held sticks and knives. We were abused and our clothes were torn,” said a second-year pharmacy student from Srinagar who has been studying in the institution since 2024, the report said.
Another student of pharmacy from Kupwara echoed a similar statement and alleged that the institution authorities were pressurizing the Kashmiri students to not to make an issue out of the situation, the report added.
“We are being forced to make videos stating that nothing happened last night,” he said.
The Lalru police confirmed the reports of attack on Kashmiri students in the institution but refused to share details and action taken following the complaint, the report said.
Condemning the attack, the IIOJK Students Association said that it had been told by the students that the college security remained passive during the entire episode, failing to intervene or protect the students.
“Even more concerning is the fact that Punjab Police did not provide timely protection or assistance, further emboldening the attackers and leaving students vulnerable and traumatized. We urge CM Bhagwant Mann to take immediate and strict action against the perpetrators, fix accountability on negligent security and police officials, and ensure the safety, security and dignity of all Kashmiri students in Punjab,” said the national convenor of the association Nasir Khuehami, the report revealed.
Mr Khuehami also alleged that a student from Prayagraj contacted him on April 23, stating that his landlords had asked him to leave the town but the matter was sorted out after his intervention.
Meanwhile, in the Indian Uttarakhand state , a right-wing group named Hindu Rakshak Dal, had issued a video statement in which Kashmiri students were threatened. In the video, Lalit Sharma from the Hindu Raksha Dal, saying, Kashmiri students would be getting “right treatment“ if they don’t leave, according to the report