SRINAGAR: Former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti Monday issued a joint appeal for maintaining communal harmony across the country and urged the Centre to ensure safety and security Kashmiris in other states even as the state Government said that the Liaison Officers in various states are in constant touch with local administrations and college authorities to ensure that the students from J&K are not put to any inconvenience.
Omar and Mehbooba’s appeal came in the backdrop of reports of attacks on Kashmiris in some parts of the country following the terror incident, in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday.
The two leaders underscored the need to maintain communal harmony across the country.
By attacking, terrorizing, intimidating Kashmiris, the youngsters of Kashmir are implicitly being told that they have no future outside of the valley , National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said.
“Intimidating Kashmiris was aimed at creating a wedge between different communities in India, they said.
We should not allow terror to divide us. By using such incidents to divide us, we fall into the trap of those behind the attack on CRPF soldiers; we are wittingly or unwittingly playing to the tunes of our enemies, the leaders said in the appeal.
They asserted that attacking innocent people because of their ethnicity or religion was no way to honour the sacrifice of the CRPF men.
Kashmiri Muslims or the Muslims of Jammu didn’t attack our CRPF Jawans the other day, terrorists did. This violence is a convenient tool by some to shift the blame. Let us unite against terror, let’s not allow terror to divide us, the NC and PDP leaders said.
They said it was tragic to see educated and civilized people spearheading vicious propaganda to paint Kashmiris and terrorists with the same brush.
The thought behind such attacks is to divide us. Our pain must not fuel such diabolical plans because eventually the axe forgets and the tree remembers, they said.
Expressing dismay over the continuous rhetoric being used against Kashmiris , the leaders said no mainstream political party would condone terrorism.
The ferocity of the rhetoric by certain media channels is also dangerous. They churn lies, hatred and divisive agenda by berating the national interests, they said.
The leaders while expressing concern over the reports of violence and arson in Jammu described the happenings as worrying and urged the political dispensation and civil society of Jammu to ensure that cooler heads prevail.
They made an appeal to the Centre to ensure the directions issued to all state governments to ensure safety and security of Kashmiris are implemented.
It doesn’t augur well for a democratic country like India to hound its own people in its response to the heinous attack on our forces. Hounding innocent Kashmiris will indisputably disenchant them; the humiliation, suspicion, isolation will push innocent Kashmiris to the wall.
As a country, we need to stand together in this hour of grief and sorrow and not allow forces inimical to unity in our country to find any space Mehbooba and Omar appealed. PTI SSB MIJ
Meanwhile, the Government today said that the Liaison Officers in various states are in constant touch with local administrations and college authorities to ensure that the students from J&K are not put to any inconvenience.
“The state administration is advising all the students and their parents, not to pay heed to any rumors, try to stay put at their respective places and contact the LOs or local police administration for any help. The mobile numbers of LOs have already been distributed amongst the students,” a state Government spokesman said.
He said in the aftermath of Lethpora incident, there have been certain reports of alleged harassment of students from J&K studying outside the state.
The spokesman said that the J&K Government has already appointed Liaison Officers at 6 regions the country including Delhi NCR- Meerut, Jaipur – Bhopal, Chandigarh, Aligarh, Bengaluru, Pune in order to coordinate with the students of J&K studying in and around these regions. The students in these regions have been advised to get in touch with these LOs in case they face any problem. These LOs are supposed to coordinate with respective college authorities and local administration in case there is any issue to be resolved. Since these LOs have already been in place for last 3 months, so all of them have already circulated their respective contact numbers to the students and colleges of these regions and some of them have already met many of the college authorities also for building better coordination.
There have been media reports of alleged mischievous WhatsApp chats by some of the miscreants, reports of candle marches and other marches in these regions by the local people, alleged rumors of some of landlords asking their respective tenant students to vacate the houses, resulting in a sense of insecurity and fear in the students.
Responding to this, the LOs of respective regions have been taking necessary steps in the last two days to help the students. Similarly, controlrooms/helplines have also been established in the office of the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir. The LOs immediately got in touch with the students, the college authorities and the local administration so as to ensure safety and security of the students.
Some of the incidents handled by LOs include, one at Maharaishi Narkendeshwar Mullana University, Ambala, where 104 students who were staying in PG locations have been accommodated in 3 hostels of University and these hostels are well guarded by the police as confirmed by local SHO. This region is being coordinated by LO Chandigarh. Another incident handled by LO – Chandigarh has been of Ganpati Institute – Bilaspur. There the Director of the Institute has been spoken to and he has assured full safety and police protection for hostels there.
Further there have been lot of calls from Dehradun students, for whom the coordination is being done by LO-Delhi NCR. There have been numerous calls from students of different colleges including Baba Farid Institute of Tech, Alpine Institute, Dolphin Institute, SBS Medical College and so on so forth.
Regarding Baba Farid Institute, the LO has been assured by the College Administration and SHO – PS Premnagar, that no untoward incident has happened so far and the situation is normal. The college authorities have assured that in case, the outside students are facing any problem they can be accommodated temporarily in their respective hostels.
Some of the students from Dehradun have reached Delhi yesterday evening and they have been accommodated in J&K House Chanakyapuri.
Further around 100 students from Sailakui (Dehradun) have gathered in Rampur. A visit by SHO and CO has been arranged at the place and further both of them assured their safety and security at that place.
Further LO- Jaipur has confirmed that the situation in Pacific University Udaipur is calm and safe. The students have been advised not venture out of the campus. The Police Commissioner and SP has visited the campus.
