Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has urged her counterparts in other states to treat students from the valley like their own children, and appealed to stop the attacks against them.
Mufti's plea comes following attacks on Kashmiri students in various parts of the country, especially in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Fringe elements had put up flex boards in Uttar Pradesh threatening Kashmiri students to go back. The warning can be seen as a reaction to recent incidents of stone pelting on Indian armed forces by the Kashmiris during and after the recent polls, which saw an all-time low voter turnout of 7 %.
The Indian Express reported that Mufti told chief minister of other states at the Niti Aayog meeting in Delhi that the students from the valley had left their state to find better educational prospects and a peaceful, conducive atmosphere to focus on studies.
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“They shouldn’t be harassed and attacked. They are like your own children and are the ambassadors of your states back home. Please try to reach out to them, enquire about them. You can also call them once in a while so that they don’t feel out of place,” said Mufti, the newspaper reported quoting sources.
According to a statement issued by Niti Aayog, Prime Minister Narendra Modi “seconded the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister’s suggestion that states should take interest in the students from her state who are studying in other states.” “He urged states to reach out to these students from time to time,” the newspaper quotes the Niti Aayog statement.
