United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Antonio Gueterres on Tuesday urged that India and Pakistan exercise ‘maximum restraint’ and offered to mediate following fresh tensions after the February 14 attack on a CRPF convoy in Lethpora area along the Srinagar-Jammu highway in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district which killed 49 CRPF personnel, IANS and PTI reported.
The IANS report stated that a UN spokesman said that they were ‘deeply concerned’ about the situation.
“The Secretary General stresses the importance for both sides to exercise maximum restraint and take immediate steps to de-escalation, and his good offices are always available should both sides ask,” the UN chief’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric was quoted as having told reporters Tuesday at the daily press briefing, according to PTI.
“Looking at the situation in general between India and Pakistan, we are deeply concerned at the increasing tensions between the two countries in the wake of the attack on Indian security personnel on February 14 in Pulwama,” Dujrraic said, as per the report.
He said Pakistan’s mission at the UN requested for the meeting with the Secretary General, according to the report.
The head of the UN received the Pakistani ambassador, Maleeha Lodhi, today whose government has asked the organization to intervene in the current crisis, Efe reported.
Rupert Colville, Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), quoted by IANS, said Tuesday in Geneva that the UN was also saddened by the further loss of life reported from the gunfight in Pulwama on February 18.
“We hope escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours will not add further to the insecurity in the region” he said, as per the report.
According to the report, Colville said the High Commissioner, Michelle Bachelet, is also concerned about reports from India that ‘some elements are using the Pulwama attack as justification for threats and potential acts of violence targeting Kashmiri and Muslim communities living in different parts of India’.
“We acknowledge actions taken by the Indian authorities to tackle these incidents and we hope that the Government will continue to take steps to protect people from all forms of harm that may be directed at them on account of their ethnicity or identity,” he said, in the report.
Militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility of the February 14 attack.
Following the news of the attack, Kashmiris living in India have been facing xenophobia, hate, terminations and suspensions.
A mob threatened to set a Dehradun college on fire if the institute didn’t terminate a Kashmiri dean. Abid Kuchay, college Dean of the Alpine Institute has been terminated.
“The college asked for it. I agreed for the betterment of the college,” he said. Abid’s resignation has been asked for his role of getting Kashmir students admitted in the college.
Moreover, four Kashmiri students were suspended on Saturday by the National Institute of Medical Science (NIMS), Rajasthan for sharing a WhatsApp status in which they were allegedly celebrating the Pulwama attack which left 49 CRPF personnel dead.
The second-year students — Talveen Manzoor, Iqra, Zohra Nazir and Uzma Nazir — were suspended soon after they shared as a WhatsApp status allegedly celebrating the killings of the CRPF personnel in the attack
Earlier, Shridev Suman Subharti University in Dehradun suspended a Kashmiri student after his alleged WhatsApp chat regarding the Pulwama attack went viral.
Meanwhile, Aligarh Muslim University also suspended a Kashmiri student over a ‘highly objectionable tweet’.
Omar Saleem Peerzada, AMU PRO said: “We have come to know of the highly objectionable tweet. Taking immediate cognizance the student has been suspended by the university administration,” he said.
Moreover, 15-20 Kashmiri female students had locked themselves in a hostel room in Dehradun after a mob surrounded the campus area, demanding the management to ‘throw them out of their rooms’.
Shazia Hamid, one of the students, told Free Press Kashmir that she and other Kashmiri female students, fearing the mob, have locked themselves in a room.
Following Free Press Kashmir’s news story the women were provided safety by the Dehradun police who dispersed the crowd peacefully.
Earlier, former chief minister Omar Abdullah had appealed to the Home Minister of India Rajnath Singh to direct all state governments to take ‘special care of areas where Kashmiris as residing or studying.’
Following the reports of attacks on Kashmiris in various parts of India, Government of India on Saturday asked all the states to ensure safety and security of the students and people from Jammu and Kashmir.
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(With inputs from IANS, PTI)
