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No new attacks on Kashmiris since Feb 22: Centre informs Supreme Court
Students from Kashmir bore the brunt of the backlash that followed the suicide attack, in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed, with hundreds fleeing cities such as Dehradun and Ambala after being threatened by right-wing activists.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday took note of the Centre’s submission that no new case of violence has been reported against Kashmiris since February 22 after the suicide bomb attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama nearly a fortnight ago.
The top court said no further order is required at this stage in view of the submissions by the attorney general, the government’s top law official.
The top court had directed all states and Union territories last Friday to ensure that Kashmiris, particularly students, feel secure, amid reports from several parts of the country that they were being targeted over the February 14 Pulwama attack.
Students from Kashmir bore the brunt of the backlash that followed the suicide attack, in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed, with hundreds fleeing cities such as Dehradun and Ambala after being threatened by right-wing activists who, in some cases, resorted to physical intimidation and forced landlords to evict the victims.
The bench, including Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, had said in the order that chief secretaries and heads of police in all states must take prompt action to prevent “incidents of assault, threat, social boycott and such other egregious acts against the Kashmiris including students... and other minorities”.
Pulwama resident and Jaish-e-Mohammed operative Adil Ahmad Dar rammed an explosive-laden to a CRPF bus, leading to the deaths of all on-board.
The incident, the deadliest attack on security forces in the Jammu and Kashmir region in three decades of insurgency, triggered anger across the country, prompting protest marches and angry demonstrations against JeM and Pakistan, the country where it is based.
Kashmiri students and businesses were targeted in several states, while at some places, police booked some Kashmiris for “anti-India” social media posts allegedly praising the attack.
