Pune varsity tells its colleges to help Kashmiri students

PUNE: The Savitribai Phule Pune University, in an order on March 1, directed all its affiliated colleges and institutes to arrange meetings with Kashmiri students and provide all assistance to them and build confidence among them.

The move has been taken in the wake of sporadic attacks on Kashmir students across the country after the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed.

The university acted on a February 22 University Grants Commission (UGC) notification.

“In the context of reports being received through various media regarding the safety of students from Kashmir studying in various higher educational institutions, all universities and colleges affiliated to them are advised to ensure the safety and protection of the students on the campus. They may keep a watch on the situation and seek support of law and order machinery in case of any untoward incident,” the state notification signed by Rajnish Jain, secretary, UGC, said.

Over 700 colleges, 234 recognised institutes and about 70 research institutes are affiliated to the SPPU.

According to the SPPU officials, at least three thousand Kashmiri students study in different colleges in the three districts Pune, Nashik and Ahmednagar.

“Our students have always responded maturely and sensitively towards socio-political issues due to an understanding of it. As a result, we have not reported any untoward incident related to Kashmiri students so far. But as a precautionary measure, we have instructed colleges to implement UGC directives in toto to prevent any kind of untoward incident against these students,” Prafulla Pawar, registrar of SPPU, told TOI on Sunday.

Students studying at Sarhad College in Katraj, which works for Kashmiri students, met deputy commissioner of police (Zone I) Bachhan Singh on Thursday at his office.

“We are working in tandem with the Pune police for many years. This has helped us in building confidence in our students. During the meeting, our students discussed their issues with the police officers and they were happy with the outcome,” Sanjay Nahar, founder of Sarhad, said.

Less than two weeks ago, TOI had reported that several Kashmiri students felt safe here because of the sensitive approach of the local population.

While some attacks were reported on Kashmiri students in other parts of the country after the Pulwama terror strike, Kashmiri students in Pune maintained that the city is like a second home for them.