Pune: Several Kashmiri students in Pune have said that they felt safe in Pune because of the sensitive approach of the local population.The students’ comment comes in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack and its repercussions across the country. These students have persuaded a group of fellow Kashmiris, from leaving the city for their native places.Some attacks on Kashmiri students were reported from Indore in Madhya Pradesh and Deharadun in Uttarakhand in the last two days following the Pulwama terror strike.“After coming to know about these incidents, at least six Kashmiris working at different places, including in hotels, were fearing a similar fate and wanted to return to their native places in Kashmir. We convinced them about their safety here and cancelled their railway reservations,” said Javed Wani, who completed his graduation from Sarhad college.“We made them aware about the risks involved in their journey back home. We have been getting all kinds of help from the Pune police and government agencies for two decades. We apprised them about these measures and built confidence in them. This helped us in changing their decision,” said Ilyas Khan from Kargil district, who is pursuing his post-graduation in commerce here.Sanjay Nahar, founder of NGO Sarhad, told TOI, “Our endeavour is to build confidence not only among Kashmiri students, but also the families staying in Pune and Mumbai. All of them feel very safe in Maharashtra. In this tense situation, we need to support Kashmiris in all possible ways.”A section of Kashmiri students and professionals said Pune has become their “second home” and they felt safer here than Kashmir. “My parents were not ready to send me Pune for studies in 2003 because of safety reason. When I returned to my home town after a year, the first thing I told my parents was that I did not see ‘gun’ in in Pune. Thereafter, they never asked me to return to Kashmir,” said another Kashmiri student, who has lived in Pune for 15 years now and is now pursuing bachelor of education.MBA graduate Owais Wani said, “Whenever I tell people that I am from Kashmir, they ask me about the situation and express their concerns over security issues.”Mukhtar Dar, who is pursuing physiotherapy in the city, said, “We are with the families of the brave soldiers, who laid down their lives for safeguarding the country.”

Stay updated with all the Pune Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.