Kashmiri students across various Indian states have reported incidents of harassment and intimidation in the wake of a deadly assault in Pahalgam that claimed the lives of over two dozen Indian men, according to the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association.
The attack on Tuesday, in which 26 people—mostly Indian, with one Nepali national—were gunned down at the popular tourist destination in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), marked the deadliest strike on civilians in the region since 2000. The incident has sparked outrage across India, particularly among Hindu nationalist groups.
Nasir Khuehami, convenor of the student association, stated that Kashmiri students residing in states like Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh were told to vacate their university hostels and rented accommodations as early as Wednesday.
Khuehami described a particularly disturbing incident at a university in Himachal Pradesh, where students were allegedly attacked after their hostel doors were forcibly broken. He said the students were subjected to verbal abuse and labeled “terrorists.”
“This is not merely a security concern,” Khuehami emphasized. “It’s a calculated campaign of hate and vilification targeting individuals based on their region and identity.”
In Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand, approximately 20 Kashmiri students fled to the airport on Wednesday after receiving threats from Hindu Raksha Dal, a fringe right-wing group. The students claimed they were warned of serious consequences if they didn’t leave the area immediately.
Kashmir has been the center of a decades-long insurgency calling for independence or unification with Pakistan. In response to the Pahalgam attack, Indian security forces have launched an extensive manhunt, detaining numerous individuals as part of the operation.
Meanwhile, India has blamed Pakistan for supporting the assailants and has taken several diplomatic steps to downgrade ties with Islamabad. Pakistan, however, has firmly denied any involvement in the incident.
