Kashmiri students face threats, evictions in Indian cities

(AFP): Students from Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) have reported harassment and intimidation in India after a deadly attack in the disputed Himalayan region killed more than two dozen Indian men, a student association said on Thursday.

Gunmen killed 26 men — all Indian except one Nepali — in the tourist hotpot of Pahalgam on Tuesday, the deadliest attack on civilians in the occupied Muslim-majority territory since 2000.

Kashmiri students in states including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh were allegedly asked to leave their rented apartments or university hostels on Wednesday, Jammu and Kashmir Students Association convenor Nasir Khuehami said.

At a university in Himachal Pradesh, students were harassed and physically attacked after hostel doors were broken, Khuehami said.

The students were allegedly called "terrorists", he added.

"This is not just a security issue", he said. "It is a deliberate and targeted campaign of hate and vilification against students from a particular region and identity".

In Uttarakhand's capital city Dehradun, around 20 students fled to the airport on Wednesday following warnings from the Hindu Raksha Dal, a fringe right-wing group.

The students said that the group threatened Kashmiri Muslim students with dire consequences if they did not leave town at the earliest.

Freedom fighters have waged a freedom struggle in IIOJK since 1989, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan.

Indian security forces have launched a vast manhunt in IIOJK for the attackers, with large numbers of people detained in the operation.

On Wednesday, New Delhi accused Islamabad of supporting "cross-border terrorism" and downgraded ties with a raft of diplomatic measures.

Pakistan has denied any role in the Pahalgam attack.