IIOJK students targeted in India following Pahalgam incident

NEW DELHI: Students from Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) have reported facing harassment and intimidation in various parts of India following a deadly assault in the disputed Himalayan territory, according to a student association on Thursday.

The attack, which occurred in the tourist town of Pahalgam on Tuesday, claimed the lives of 26 men, all of them Indian nationals except one Nepali, and has been described as the deadliest assault on civilians in the region since 2000.

Indian media reports allege that the assailants selectively targeted men.

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. 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.