Kashmiris complain of evictions after deadly attack on Indian forces
Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR (Reuters)
- India has warned against rising communal tensions across the country as some
Kashmiris living outside their state said they faced property evictions while
others were attacked on social media after a suicide bomber killed 44 policemen
in the region.
The car bomb
attack on a security convoy on Thursday, claimed by Pakistan-based Islamist
militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad and carried out by a 20-year-old Kashmiri man,
was the worst in decades of insurgency in the disputed area, which is claimed
in full by both the nuclear-armed neighbours.
As the bodies of
the paramilitary policemen who died in the attack were returned to families
across India this weekend, passionate crowds waving the Indian flag gathered in
the streets to honour them and shouted demands for revenge. Pakistan has denied
any role in the killings.
Kashmiri Muslims,
meanwhile, say they are facing a backlash in Hindu-majority India, mainly in
the northern states of Haryana and Uttarakhand, forcing the federal interior
ministry to issue an advisory to all states.
“The ministry has
taken a stringent view and has issued an advisory to all states and union
territories to ensure safety and security of Kashmiris, and to maintain
communal harmony,” A. Bharat Bhushan Babu, a spokesman for the ministry, told
Reuters on Sunday.
Aqib Ahmad, a
Kashmiri student in Uttarakhand capital Dehradun, said the owner of the house
he was staying in had asked him to move out fearing an attack on his property.
Two other students in Dehradun said they also had been asked to vacate their
rooms.
“Where are we
supposed to go?” Waseem Akram told Reuters.
Advertisement
The Jammu &
Kashmir (J&K) state administration late on Sunday advised students from the
state to reach out to liaison officers across six regions of the country in
case of any problems. It said 104 students who were staying in private
accommodation in the Haryana district of Ambala had been moved to hostels of a
university guarded by police.
It said some
Kashmiri students from Dehradun reached New Delhi on Saturday evening and had
been accommodated in J&K’s guest house in the national capital.
“The state
administration assures people of J&K that due cognizance is being taken for
each and every call from the students and their parents, and local
administration is being apprised of the developing situation,” its statement
said.
Uttarakhand Chief
Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said “no incident of beating or harassment of
Kashmiri students has been reported anywhere in the state”.
“I’m making it
clear that law-breakers, including rumour mongers, will not be spared either,”
Rawat said in a tweet.
The Central
Reserve Police Force (CRPF), to which all the dead officers belonged, said
“fake news about harassment of students from Kashmir is being propagated by
various miscreants on social media”.
“CRPF helpline has
enquired about complaints about harassment and found them incorrect,” it said
on Twitter.
J&K police
said they were providing temporary accommodation to people returning from
around the country.
“TRAITOR”
Fear has engulfed
Kashmiri students in Ambala after a video on social media showed a village
headman asking people to evict Kashmiri students in the area.
“In case it is not
done, the person in whose residence such students are living will be considered
as a traitor,” the man says in the video, whose authenticity Reuters has not
been able to independently verify.
Police said they
were investigating the matter.
The attack on
India’s paramilitary police follows the deadliest year in Kashmir for security
personnel since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya
Janata Party came to power nearly five years ago.
Saudi crown prince pledges $20 bln for Pakistan
Thousands of
people, including militants and civilians, have died since the insurgency began
in late 1980s.
Political leaders
from Kashmir appealed to the government to ensure security of Kashmiris across
India, while many people on Twitter said their homes were open to Kashmiris
seeking shelter.
“Understand the
pain and anguish,” Mehbooba Mufti, former chief minister of J&K, said in a
tweet. “But we must not allow such mischievous elements to use this as an
excuse to persecute/harass people from J&K. Why should they suffer for
somebody else’s action?”
Comments
Post a Comment