Following a bloody attack in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, journalist Rushda Khan reveals how Kashmiri students across northern Indian states are facing a wave of violence and threats by Hindu supremacist groups.
The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association has documented at least eight incidents so far in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab, calling it a “deliberate and targeted campaign of hate.”
In Himachal Pradesh state which neighbours Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Kashmiri students were harassed, abused and labelled “terrorists” by Hindu mobs. Hostel doors were broken down and students were forced to flee.
In Dehradun, Hindutva extremists issued a threat to find and assault Kashmiri Muslim students, warning them to leave the state before 10am the next day or face similar raids.
In Punjab state, Kashmiri students were brutally attacked with sharp weapons inside hostel premises.
A Kashmiri girl, appeared in a video pleading for help, saying locals were abusing her. She also alleged that a taxi driver assaulted Kashmiri girls and threw them out of his vehicle.
Around the same time, a video emerged from a village in Haryana showing Hindu extremists assaulting and humiliating two Muslim hawkers, warning them to never enter the village.
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Hindutva social media accounts have also started sharing dangerous anti-Kashmir and anti-Muslim rhetoric, calling for mass violence against Muslims with some viral posts calling Islam “terrorism’s only religion.”
“Kashmir should be free of all Muslims. It is the land of Hindus. It should be free of Islam and Muslims at any cost,” a Hindu extremist leader from Uttarkhand declared in a video message.
Similarly, some Indian news channels have also been calling for a “final solution” or “Gaza-like” collective punishment.
Viral social media posts could be spotted drawing parallels to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline policies against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, urging India to adopt similar measures.
Violence in Indian-occupied Kashmir
On April 22, armed men attacked tourists and off-duty Indian military personnel in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, killing at least 26 and injuring over 20 others, marking the region’s deadliest attack since 2019.
All the victims were men. The Resistance Front (TRF), a little-known armed group that emerged in the region in 2019 has taken centre stage after claiming responsibility for the attack.
According to reports, Indian officials believe that TRF is an offshoot — or possibly a front — of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based armed group. Some in India believe Tuesday’s attack may actually have been the handiwork of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, with TRF fronting responsibility to muddy India’s investigations into the killings.
India has long believed that Pakistan supports armed resistance in Indian-occupied areas of Kashmir, a charge denied by Islamabad.
Pakistan says it provides only diplomatic and moral support to the Kashmiri people. It also condemned the attack on tourists in Pahalgam.
The accusation, regardless of whether it is true or not, has increased tensions between Pakistan and India with some experts fearing a military escalation in the region which the two countries have fought wars over in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999.
Indian security forces have detained over 1,500 Kashmiri Muslims for questioning and a crackdown on the region has ensued.
The attack comes amid a broader context of unrest and repression in Kashmir.
In 2024, the Muslim-majority region entered its fourth year under the direct rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, following the abrogation of its special autonomous status in August 2019.
Leading global human rights organisations, including the United Nations, have consistently raised alarm over widespread abuses in the region — ranging from mass surveillance, arbitrary arrests, land dispossession, and discriminatory policies targeting Kashmir’s Muslim population.
Journalists and human rights defenders face particularly harsh treatment, with many detained under India’s draconian anti-terrorism laws.
Groups like the TRF have fought against Indian forces in the region as many native Kashmiris view India as an occupying power, which is trying to forcefully displace local Muslims and change the demographics to turn Jammu and Kashmir into a Hindu-majority state of India.
Rushda Fathima Khan is an independent journalist based in India. She has extensively reported on the government’s discriminatory policies towards minorities, state violence against minorities, and the incarceration of Muslim activists in jails.
