Supreme Court issues notice to Centre, 11 states; orders them to ensure safety of Kashmiris

The court said the Union home ministry will issue advisories to all the state governments to ensure the protection of Kashmiris in their respective states. It asked the chiefs of the state police to ensure the safety of Kashmiris.

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the central government and 11 states, seeking their response on a plea for its intervention to prevent the alleged attacks on Kashmiri students after last week’s terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama.

Kashmiri students from Dehradun, Ambala, Banur and Mohali leaving for Kashmir with help of Khalsa Aid at Gurudwara Sacha Dhan, Phase 3B1, in Mohali, Punjab, India on Tuesday. (Anil Dayal/HT Photo)

The notice has been issued to Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).

The court said the Union home ministry will issue advisories to all the state governments to ensure the protection of Kashmiris in their respective states. It asked the chiefs of the state police to ensure the safety of Kashmiris.

Incidents of assaults and harassment of Kashmiris have been reported from various parts of the country after a 22-year-old Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist rammed his car packed with explosives into a CRPF convoy killing 40 personnel on February 14.

Several Kashmiri students have been arrested and suspended from their colleges for alleged “anti-national” activities across India. Some have even alleged they were harassed and asked by their landlords to vacate accommodations, fearing attacks on their properties after the strike in Pulwama.