A day after Kashmiri students were attacked by members of the Yuva Sena in Yevatmal district of Maharashtra, the Supreme Court has directed the government to take necessary steps to prevent acts of violence and discrimination against Kashmiris.
Nodal officers will be appointed as per a list submitted by the Attorney General, and these officers will be responsible for looking into instances of assault, intimidation, social boycott and threats against Kashmiris and minorities.
Additionally, the bench headed by Chief Justice Gogoi also ordered, “We have also gone through the advisories issued by the Home Ministry to the Chief Secretaries and the DGPs of all states. These advisories already issue shall be reiterated from Time to time. The Chief Secretaries, the DGPs and the Police Commissioner of Delhi are directed to take prompt and necessary action to prevent all incidents of threat, assault, social boycott and other coercive acts in the aftermath of the terrorist attack of February 14.”
Attacks on Kashmiris
Members of the Kashmiri community living in different Indian states have been targeted in wake of the Pulwama terrorist attack that killed 44 jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). Many of those targeted were either students or business owners.
Kashmiri shopkeepers were attacked in Buddha Bazaar in Patna on February 15. At least 40 traders were forced to shut down 8 shops. On February 19, two Kashmiri men were abused and beaten up on a train in Delhi. They were attacked when they were taking their merchandise of shawls and woolens for sale to Haryana. There were several other similar reports from other locations, though the Uttarkhand police has rubbished claims of attacks on female hostel students in their state.
The Yevatmal Attack
4 students of the Dayabhai Patel Physical Education College, who were living at a rented accommodation at Waghpur Road in Vaibhav Nagar, that falls under the Lohara police station, were stopped by members of the Yuva Sena, the youth wing of the Shiv Sena on Wednesday.
The Yuva Sainiks asked the students where they were from and on discovering they were Kashmiris, the students were abused and thrashed. They were also asked if their family members in Kashmir were terrorists. The students were asked to chant “Vande Matarm” and “Hindustan Zindabad” to prove their patriotism! A video of the attack has gone viral.
M Rajkumar, (SP, Yavatmal) told Cnn News 18, “The students have been studying here for quite some time. They approached us this morning and the Lohara police in Yavatmal is the process of registering a case. We are recording their statements. We will be identifying the accused.”