FIR against Hindu Raksha Dal leader who threatened Kashmiri students in Uttarakhand

DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand police on Thursday registered a first information report (FIR) against a Hindu right-wing leader who gave Kashmiri students a 10am deadline to leave the state over the Pahalgam terror attack and promised to declared that the state police would ensure safety of Kashmiri students in the state.

Dehradun senior superintendent of police (SSP) Ajai Singh said a FIR was registered against Hindu Raksha Dal leader Lalit Sharma for attempting to incite religious sentiments through inflammatory speeches.

The FIR was under sections 196 (1) (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 352 (criminal intimidation), 353 (2) (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Patel Nagar police station.

In a video statement, Sharma allegedly threatened to ‘deal’ with any Kashmiri Muslim in Dehradun who did not heed his warning to leave the state. “From 10 am, Hindu Raksha Dal teams will step out from their homes, and if we find any Kashmiri anywhere, we will teach them a lesson,” he said in the statement that had been circulating since yesterday,

Singh said the police had got 25 objectionable posts removed from social media, adding that its social media monitoring cell was closely monitoring objectionable content. “Strict action will be taken if anybody uploads such posts on social media,” he said.

Uttarakhand additional director general of police (ADG), intelligence, AP Anshuman, said, “We have sounded alert and increased security measures. We will ensure the safety of all Kashmiri students in Uttarakhand.”

Anshuman’s assurance came after Kashmiri Muslim students in several parts of the state and beyond expressed apprehension for their life after provocative videos and posts were circulated on social media.

But many Kashmiri students had already left the state before the authorities got their act together.

“We couldn’t sleep last night due to the threatening video being circulated on social media. Our parents kept calling us. We reached out to the college administration for safety, but we couldn’t get an assurance. We then decided to leave for Kashmir,” a 21-year-old pharmacy student of Alpine group of Institutes said.

“Our exams are scheduled to take place in a month and a half, but it will disrupt our studies. We will not be able to attend regular classes. If things get back to normal, we will return,” the student from Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam, who took a flight to Delhi along with 20 other Kashmiri students on Thursday, said.

His batchmate, who was at Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun, said; “After watching the video, we got really scared… we thought of leaving that very night… but then we couldn’t find a cab at night… we couldn’t sleep the whole night… we waited for morning… and in the morning, we saw another threatening video…then we came to the airport in the afternoon to take a flight for Delhi, from where we will take a flight for Kashmir.”

“Why are they associating us with what happened in Kashmir? Why are they looking at us that way? We have come here to study... this is going to disturb our education,” the student, 20, asked

Mohsin Abbas, admission coordinator at Doon Group of Colleges in Dehradun said, the situation “is normal for now” but 20 Kashmiri students from various colleges and universities had already left after the threat video went viral on social media.

Nasir Khuehami of the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association said, “Hindu outfit Hindu Raksha Dal has openly issued threats to identify and physically assault Kashmiri Muslim students in Uttarakhand… the authorities should ensure safety of students and take action against such fringe elements.”