Police said the delegation which included a Rajya Sabha MP and former MLA was satisfied with the safety of students.

Agencies

Jammu, February 20:

A delegation of the Peoples Democratic Party from Jammu and Kashmir visited Uttarakhand on Tuesday to assess the situation following alleged harassment of Kashmiri students in the wake of the Pulwama attack, PTI reported.

Inspector General of Police (Garhwal) Ajay Rautela said a delegation of Rajya Sabha member Faiyaz Ahmed Mir, former MLA Aijaz Ahmed Mir and other party leaders arrived in Dehradun on Tuesday. “The delegation interacted with Kashmiri students studying in different institutions here and returned after expressing satisfaction over their safety,” Rautela said. He said some students who wished to go back home returned with the party delegation.

Several Kashmiri students were reportedly harassed and beaten up in the city over the weekend, days after 40 Central Reserve Police Force officers were killed in a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district. 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.

On Tuesday, 22 students were arrested in Dehradun for staging a protest demanding the expulsion of Kashmiri students in Dehradun.

Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand government said it would introduce new rules for students from Jammu and Kashmir seeking admission in universities or colleges in the state, News18 reported. “We will seek full details from the Jammu and Kashmir authorities about the prospective students – their past and family history,” said Higher Education Minister Dhan Singh Rawat.

The minister said it would be made mandatory for colleges to verify students’ credentials through the local police.