The National Human Rights Commission on Thursday issued notices to the Ministries of Home and Human Resource Development as well as the state governments of West Bengal, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh seeking a reply about the alleged harassment of Kashmiris. The panel has also sent a notice to the Delhi Police commissioner.
Forty Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14 in a suicide attack. The Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility for the attack. Several Kashmiri students were reportedly harassed and beaten up across states in the days after the attack.
On Wednesday, however, Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar refuted reports about alleged harassment of Kashmiri students.
The rights body said it was taking cognisance of a media report on the alleged violence against Kashmiris. The commission has asked the Union ministries to submit a report on the matter within two weeks. It has ordered the chief secretaries of the states concerned to submit a report within four weeks.
The panel condemned the violence against people from Kashmir. “Giving such bad treatment by targeting people of a particular region of the country by some elements will destroy the democratic fabric of the country,” the commission said. “The central government has to act quickly by taking action against the miscreants. There is a need for sensitisation of local authorities, police agencies and the general public to maintain law and order at every cost.”
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a petition filed by a lawyer against the alleged harassment of Kashmiris.
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