Pulwama aftermath: India SC orders govt to protect Kashmiris, minorities

Centre, states told to protect vulnerable communities, particularly students, from violence or backlash

India's Supreme Court on Friday ordered the federal government and several states to ensure protection for Kashmiris and minority communities, particularly students, from violence or backlash over the February 14 Pulwama attack, The Hindu reported.

According to the publication, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi ordered the chief secretaries and police chiefs of several sensitive states to ensure vigilance and curb any violent tendencies in the bud.

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The police chiefs have been told to direct all officers to take immediate action on any complaint. The court has also ordered nodal officers appointed by the Centre to prevent and defuse tensions.

The petition filed by advocate Tariq Adeeb was taken up urgently as the first item for hearing even though it was numbered 51 in the day's list of cases.

The petition prayed the court to direct the Centre to “forthwith take steps to prevent threats, assaults, violent attacks, social boycotts, ostracism, evictions and other coercive acts committed by groups and mobs against Kashmiris and other minorities, particularly in the wake of the Pulawama attack”.

It referred to incidents of violence against vulnerable communities in states including Bihar, Chattisgarh, Haryana, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

The court issued notices to representatives of the states and added two more states — Punjab and Maharashtra — to the list.