JALANDHAR:Punjab police have started collecting details about Kashmiri students studying in educational institutions across the state. The police have circulated a form asking for various details of students from outside Punjab. They are also seeking Aadhaar details, leading to fears among many Kashmiri students that the police is singling them out. Many are also asking if this violates the Supreme Court order on Adhaar and privacy.The details are being sought after three Kashmiri students were arrested from an institute on the outskirts of Jalandhar on October 10, allegedly with weapons, including an assault rifle and explosives. Punjab DGP Suresh Arora had claimed that the three were part of a module of the terror outfit, Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH).The Supreme Court in its September 26 order had struck down the provision in the Aadhaar law allowing sharing of data on the ground of national security. The court had also ordered that educational institutes can’t demand Aadhaar details during admissions or during different entrance tests.TOI has a copy of the form that was given out to non-Punjab students in Jalandhar. It seeks basic information like name, age, date of birth and permanent address. At the end, cops have drawn out a special column with a pen to seek Aadhaar details, which makes it look like an afterthought. The details are being sought in a form titled ‘Other State Students Database’."Police have the right to get such details from suspects or from those who have accusations against them,” says Rajvinder Singh Bains, human rights lawyer of the Punjab and Haryana high court.‘Some Kashmir students have already left for home’The human rights lawyer said, “Asking for such details merely because they are from another state is violations of their right to privacy. Nobody has the right to intrude in the privacy of others just because he or she belongs to a different state, caste, religion."Enquiries from different educational institutes revealed that police officials have asked them to first provide a list of Kashmiri students. Officials have also asked for attendance of Kashmiri students from CT Institute of Engineering Management and Technology from where the three Kashmiri students were arrested.“We find ourselves in a piquant situation. When we search the hostels, Kashmiri students sarcastically say ‘come in, we are terrorists’. However, students of Delhi ask for search warrants,” says Manbir Singh, MD of CT Institutes.“Some students from Kashmir have already left for their homes. Their parents came and took them away. Kashmiri students are also leaving the hostels,” he added. Sources said police officials have also issued informal instructions that no Kashmiri student can leave the hostel without informing the police.Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) president Anshu Kataria said that Punjab becomes the preferred destination for many Jammu and Kashmir students for their higher education because of its proximity. According to him, between 10,000 and 15,000 Kashmiri students are studying in the state under Prime Minister Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS).Jalandhar commissioner of police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that they already had the data of all students. “We keep updating the information,” he said. “Advisories keep coming as other states remain concerned about the safety of their students. We keep data of all students and there is no discriminatory profiling.”

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