Colleges in Kolkata have been issued circulars by the police, seeking information about students from Jammu and Kashmir. According to a report on The Indian Express, colleges across the city have received a note saying, "Please let me know that students, whose residential addresses is under the State of Jammu & Kashmir, studies in your Institution for onwards transmission to the Ministry of Home Affairs, North Block, New Delhi, Govt. of India.
The colleges received the notes in the last week of February when JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested and students across India came out in protest against the Modi government. Jadavpur University in Kolkata was one of the institutions that led the Kolkata leg of the protests.
While senior police officers confirmed the news to The Indian Express, they didn't reveal why the Kashmiri students were under the scanner. However, they said that the request had been placed from the central intelligence agencies.
Omar Abdullah reached out to Mamata Banerjee on Twitter and enquired if the news of Kashmiri students being harassed was being true.
Dear @MamataOfficial can you please look in to this police order? Info gathering shouldn't become harassment. Tks https://t.co/xik6A0naUp
— Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) March 15, 2016
Following the government crackdown on JNU students for alleged 'seditious' activities and public outrage against them, several Kashmiri students in Delhi complained that they felt insecure and were being continuously hounded. However, according to reports the government at the Centre asked the police to not bother or round up Kashmiri students since the talks of BJP allying with the PDP in Kashmir were on.
Contact HuffPost India
Also see on HuffPost:
