Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said that the continuous harassment of Kashmiris in India is forcing people to think if the “two nation theory” was right.
“Kashmiri boys and girls are being harassed under a well thought out conspiracy. The situation is so horrendous that the people are compelled to think if the two nation theory was a right decision,” Abdullah said addressing a press conference in Srinagar.
He said that the hotels at some places have put up placards saying that Kashmiris are not allowed to stay.
Abdullah asked as to why it was all being perpetrated and as why Kashmiris are being singled out to be targeted while government has maintained a ‘criminal silence’.
“Are Kashmiris being targeted for being from a region which is India’s only Muslim majority state,” Abdullah asked.
He urged the governor Satya Pal Malik to make arrangements for students who were compelled to leave their studies and return home.
He said that ‘alienation among Kashmiris’ will only increase with the situation that has unfolded in India.
Since the Pulwama attack, Kashmiris studying and working in various parts of India have been xenophobia, harassment, suspension and rustication.
On Thursday, right-wing outfits, including Shiv Sena, in Punjab’s Swami Sarvanand Institute of Management Technology protested against Kashmiri students over alleged disrespect shown to the tricolor on campus.
A mob threatened to set a Dehradun college on fire if the institute didn’t terminate a Kashmiri dean. Abid Kuchay, college Dean of the Alpine Institute has been terminated.
“The college asked for it. I agreed for the betterment of the college,” he said. Abid’s resignation has been asked for his role of getting Kashmir students admitted in the college.
Moreover, four Kashmiri students were suspended on Saturday by the National Institute of Medical Science (NIMS), Rajasthan for sharing a WhatsApp status in which they were allegedly celebrating the Pulwama attack which left 49 CRPF personnel dead.
The second-year students — Talveen Manzoor, Iqra, Zohra Nazir and Uzma Nazir — were suspended soon after they shared as a WhatsApp status allegedly celebrating the killings of the CRPF personnel in the attack
Earlier, Shridev Suman Subharti University in Dehradun suspended a Kashmiri student after his alleged WhatsApp chat regarding the Pulwama attack went viral.
Meanwhile, Aligarh Muslim University also suspended a Kashmiri student over a ‘highly objectionable tweet’.
Omar Saleem Peerzada, AMU PRO said: “We have come to know of the highly objectionable tweet. Taking immediate cognizance the student has been suspended by the university administration,” he said.
Moreover, 15-20 Kashmiri female students had locked themselves in a hostel room in Dehradun after a mob surrounded the campus area, demanding the management to ‘throw them out of their rooms’.
Shazia Hamid, one of the students, told Free Press Kashmir that she and other Kashmiri female students, fearing the mob, have locked themselves in a room.
Following Free Press Kashmir’s news story the women were provided safety by the Dehradun police who dispersed the crowd peacefully.
Earlier, former chief minister Omar Abdullah had appealed to the Home Minister of India Rajnath Singh to direct all state governments to take ‘special care of areas where Kashmiris as residing or studying.’
Following the reports of attacks on Kashmiris in various parts of India, Government of India on Saturday asked all the states to ensure safety and security of the students and people from Jammu and Kashmir.
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