Kashmiri students in city stay indoors fearing trouble

Neha Saini

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 18

With news surfacing regarding Kashmiri students facing the heat in different parts of the country since the Pulwama attack, the ones living in the city too are in fear and confusion. After reports of more than 300 Kashmiri students reaching Mohali after incidents of harassment and being provided safe shelter by a student body, Kashmiri students in Amritsar say that the current situation is worrying.

“We have not ventured out of our residence in the city for the past two days due to the fear of being harassed. Though nothing has happened till now, you never know when such a situation might arise,” said Yusuf (name changed), a student hailing from Banihal in Jammu, who came to the city a few months ago to study.

Living with his father, who runs a meat shop in the city, Yusuf said since his father too is out of town, he has been confined to his home as a safety measure. “Such incidents incite negative sentiments and I have been following social media reports that Kashmiri students are being beaten up and harassed. All this is making me worry as I have come for higher studies and make a future for myself.”

Similar sentiments are shared by another Kashmiri student, Shafi (name changed), who arrived in Amritsar in August last year from Kupwara to study in a prestigious college. “I have two elder brothers back home, who call me everyday twice to ensure that I am safe. These reports in media make them worry. I feel such incidents act as a deterrent for a lot of Kashmiri youth, who want to move out of the troubled state and pursue studies for their future prospects,” he said.

While Shafi maintained that he has not faced any harassment, he said that negativity breeds negativity. “If such a negative treatment is meted out to students, who are innocent and only left their homes to build a future, it might breed negative sentiments among a few of them,” he said. Both said a number of Kashmiri students prefer to study in Amritsar, Jalandhar and Chandigarh in Punjab because they are considered safe.