The University Grants Commission on Friday asked vice chancellors of all universities affiliated to it to ensure the safety and security of Kashmiri students on their campuses. There have been several reports of Kashmiri students being attacked in parts of the country, following an attack in Pulwama on February 14, which killed 40 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force.

“In the context of reports being received through various media regarding the safety of students from Kashmir studying in various higher educational institutions, all universities and colleges affiliated to them are advised lo ensure the safety and protection of the students on the campus,” the panel’s circular read.

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University Grants Commission Secretary Rajnish Jain said universities can seek the support of the law and order machinery if any untoward incidents take place. He asked the vice chancellors to intervene personally in the matter to ensure that peace and harmony are maintained on campus.

The Supreme Court on Friday sent notices to the Centre and 10 states asking for their responses on a petition seeking intervention to prevent alleged attacks on Kashmiri students.

Several Kashmiri students were reportedly harassed and beaten up in Dehradun last weekend following the terror attack in South Kashmir. Since then, many Kashmiri students in Uttarakhand have temporarily left the state. Nearly 300 Kashmiri students have fled to Jammu and Delhi from colleges in Uttarakhand after large-scale eviction from their campuses.

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The central government, however, had said there was no such harassment of Kashmiri students. “We are in touch with all institutes, no such incident took place,” Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar had said.

Members of the Yuva Sena, the youth wing of the Shiv Sena, attacked several students from Kashmir studying in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal on Wednesday night.