On Kashmiri Students, Centre Did Send A Note. What It Didn't Ask For.

After a newspaper report said colleges in Kolkata have been asked to collate profiles of all students from Jammu and Kashmir, sources in the union Home Ministry clarified to NDTV that in fact, what the centre asked for was quite different.

An advisory seen by NDTV that was sent in February to state governments says "There is perception among the people of Jammu and Kashmir that their wards are being treated with suspicion and hostility" at colleges. Officials said that because families had complained that students have trouble finding housing, for example, they asked states to "ensure the protection of students from J&K". The advisory also asks for the "utmost care and sensitivity" in handling Kashmiri students.

The Indian Express today reported that the Kolkata police is asking colleges to furnish all details of students who belong to Jammu and Kashmir.

"We are concerned and puzzled at the same time," a top official in the Home Affairs Ministry said  adding that the "advisory appears to have been misunderstood because we never asked for a list to be compiled."

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The advisory was sent days after the controversial arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar, a student at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University or JNU, on charges of sedition for making anti-India remarks at a campus event that protested the hanging of Kashmiri Afzal Guru for his role in the attack on parliament in 2001. Amid a furious debate about whether the arrest manifested the government's intent to crackdown on dissent, students at Kolkata's Jadavpur University held a demonstration in solidarity with Mr Kumar, where slogans questioning the execution were raised.
 
Omar Abdullah, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, referred to the report about the Kolkata Police on Twitter, drawing a reassurance from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.