No harassment of Kashmiris after February 22 order: Centre to top court

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that there was no need to issue any more orders regarding attacks on Kashmiris in the wake of the Pulwama attack that left 40 Central Reserve Police Force men dead on February 14.

A Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoiled bench said this after attorney general K K Venugopal’s told the court that there was not even a single case of harassment or attack on Kashmiris since the top court’s February 22 order in this regard.

A PIL had asked for the court’s directions to ensure the security of Kashmiris after the Pulwama attack. The court asked the states, where the alleged attacks on Kashmiris had taken place, to file their responses within seven days.

It even refrained from passing any orders on lawyer Colin Gonsalves’s request to direct authorities to set-up helplines to provide round-the-clock help to Kashmiris.

The court had on February 22 directed states and Union territories to ensure the security of Kashmiris and particularly students amid reports that many of them were attacked and harassed in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack.

It directed the Union home ministry to reiterate its earlier advisories to states to ensure the protection of the Kashmiris after Venugopal informed it that the Centre had issued the necessary directives.