There were allegations of Kashmiri students and businessmen facing harassment from Hindutva mobs in northern India. As social media was filled with calls for war and trumping up hate for minorities, a lot of people took to Twitter and Facebook to offer shelter to Kashmiri students facing trouble.
Image: indiatimes.com
Embodying the spirit of hate hurts, harmony works, Indians across the country opened their homes and hearts for Kashmiris feeling threatened by the vitiating atmosphere few days after the attack on a Central Reserve Police Force convoy in Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14 left at least 44 security personnel dead.
There were allegations of Kashmiri students and businessmen facing harassment from Hindutva mobs in northern India. As social media was filled with calls for war and trumping up hate for minorities, a lot of people took to Twitter and Facebook to offer shelter to Kashmiri students facing trouble.
Indian social media has been flooded by locals using the hashtags #UnHateNow and #SafeHaven to offer shelter to Kashmiri people being targeted.
The Union home ministry issued an advisory to all states to ensure the safety and security of students and people from Jammu and Kashmir living in their areas.
Khalsa Aid International reached out to distressed students and offered them transportation, food and accommodation. The Punjab-based NGO got in touch with Jammu and Kashmir Students’ Organisation (JKSO) and is providing transportation to 250 students waiting to leave for Mohali from Dehradun.
“When I saw members of Jammu and Kashmir Students’ Organisation are providing help to students facing threats after Pulwama, I followed up with them. We are giving them transportation, food and accommodation. I saw them hungry and scared,” Amarpreet Singh, managing director, Khalsa Aid International, told News 18.
Over 200 Kashmiri students from Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand have taken refuge in Chandigarh, Mohali and surrounding areas.
More than 80 such students including girls from Dehradun (Uttranchal) and Mullana in Haryana have arrived in Mohali alone after vacating their rented accommodations and hostel rooms of their respective colleges. Some have even left for their native places in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Delhi Commission for Minorities also asked the Delhi Police to be on high alert against those who try to “vitiate the atmosphere and start riots”.
Attacks on Kashmiri students have been reported from Dehradun, Jodhpur, Ambala, Panchkula, Delhi, and Patna among others.
In view of reports of alleged harassment, the CRPF launched a helpline- CRPF Madadgaar with the Twitter handle @CRPFmadadgaar. Students and the general public, presently out of Jammu and Kashmir, can contact the 24×7 toll-free number 14411 or SMS at 7082814411 for speedy assistance in case they face any harassment.
