Srinagar: A single viral video, a ticking deadline, and the looming threat of violence forced Kashmiri students studying across India to abandon their campuses and flee for safety.
Among them was a 23-year-old student—who requested anonymity—left scrambling after a right-wing leader released a video ordering all Kashmiri Muslims to vacate Dehradun before 10 am. With no support from college authorities or local police, he booked a flight to Delhi at 7 am, hoping to escape an increasingly hostile environment.
“After I saw the video, I couldn’t think of anything but packing my bag and getting out before 10,” he recalled, his voice trembling. “We didn’t sleep at all. We just waited for morning, desperate to leave. Every noise felt like a threat—even the ticking of a wristwatch sent chills down my spine.”
He said nearly 60 Kashmiri students from various colleges in Uttarakhand fled around the same time. “We reached Kashmir that afternoon,” he added.
A female student, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said her parents kept calling through the night, pleading with her to return home.
“It cost us over ₹10,000 to book tickets from Dehradun to Delhi and then to Kashmir. Many parents had to borrow money or take loans—just to ensure we reached home safely,” she said.
She added that students are reluctant to return unless there are assurances of safety.
“We’ll stay in Kashmir even if it means missing our classes. Why are Kashmiri students always targeted whenever something happens in the country? How are we to blame?” she asked.
In Punjab, reports emerged of female students being attacked inside their hostel rooms. One viral video showed a Kashmiri girl being rescued by members of the Sikh community. She is seen sobbing, explaining how she had locked herself inside her room as a mob stormed the hostel, calling them terrorists and blaming them for the Pahalgam attack.
Student activist Syed Abdul Mohsin Andrabi, a PhD scholar representing Kashmiri students in the Punjab region, urged authorities to act swiftly and sensitively.
“We are students, not suspects,” Andrabi told SSP Toora. “Our only demand is safety and dignity. The pain of the Pahalgam attack is shared by all of us—but it should not translate into collective punishment for an entire community. We want to walk freely, study peacefully, and live without fear,” he said in a press statement.
In yet another viral video, Kashmiri students are seen sleeping on the floor of Delhi airport. A visibly exhausted student says, “We are stranded at Delhi airport. It’s 4 am, and we’ve been here since last night—ever since right-wing leaders warned Kashmiris to leave or face consequences. We are all from different colleges in Dehradun.”
The clip, widely circulated on social media, captured the sense of fear and uncertainty that gripped these students—many of whom had fled in such haste they couldn’t arrange immediate onward travel to Kashmir.
The Jammu and Kashmir’s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah issued a public statement assuring the safety of Kashmiri students and businessmen across India. On social media, he wrote:
“With a view to instilling a sense of security among our students and businessmen currently in other states, I have deputed my Cabinet Ministers to various cities across the country. The purpose of these visits is to coordinate efforts with the respective State Governments and ensure the safety and well-being of J&K residents. The J&K Government will stand with its people—anywhere, everywhere.”
The wave of panic began after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, which killed 27 people, including 29-year-old Syed Adil Hussain Shah—a local Kashmiri who died while trying to save tourists in the Baisaran Valley.
A day after the attack, as India launched diplomatic reprisals against Pakistan and ordered Pakistani nationals to leave the country within 48 hours, a leader of the Hindu Raksha Dal in Uttarakhand uploaded a video warning all Kashmiri Muslims to leave Dehradun within 12 hours.
What followed was a sudden, fearful exodus. Across several Indian states, Kashmiri students were harassed, profiled, and pressured to leave the institutions they were enrolled in—simply for being Kashmiri.
