News of Kashmiris being targeted across the country have been reported from across the country in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack, in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.
On 16 February, a peaceful procession allegedly turned into a mob in Dehradun’s Suddhowala area. A group reportedly stopped outside the Girls Nest Hostel and threatened 15 Kashmiri girls living there.
Nivedita Kukretri, senior superintendent of police, Dehradun, spoke exclusively to The Quint about the issue of Kashmiri students leaving the city.
“We were alerted about a mob that had gathered outside the girls’ hostel in Suddhowala. We immediately rushed to the site and controlled the crowd. Within a few minutes, the situation was under control.”SSP Nivedita Kukreti
She added that to ensure students’ safety, they deployed police outside the hostel as well as in the adjoining areas.
“To instil a sense of security among the girls, we deployed cops on the spot; mobile (police) parties were deployed. Our officers were constantly in touch with them, they were responding to their calls in a professional as well as a personal capacity.”Nivedita Kukreti, SSP, Dehradun, told The Quint
She also added that the girls from the nest hostel felt safe shortly after the police took control of the situation.
“When a fear psychosis gets created and amplified on social media, then despite all ground efforts, the situation seems to slip out. When I met with the girls from the Girls Nest Hostel the next day, they were very happy with my team’s work. They, in fact, did not want to go back at all. They said that they have classes, exams, etc, and that they feel perfectly fine and safe here.”Nivedita Kukreti, SSP, Dehradun
However, several Kashmiri students left the city after the incident. Apart from the Girls Nest incident, a mob had gathered outside the Alpine institute and allegedly demanded that the dean should step down. Some students from this institute too have gone back home.
Dean of Alpine institute Aabid Majid told The Quint from Jammu that he will bring the students back with him in March and that there is no need to panic:
“I was not asked to step down by anyone from the institute. I took a few Kashmiri students with me because there was sudden panic. We will be back by 5 March latest. We hope to resume classes as soon as we are back. The cops helped us a lot and there is no need to panic.”
The Quint reached out to Kashmiri students who left the city temporarily, but there were no responses.
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