India-Pakistan cricket match: Parents of Kashmiri students tense

SRINAGAR: An India-Pakistan cricket match may be among the most awaited events in the subcontinent, but for a number of people in Kashmir whose children study in different parts of the country the upcoming tie on Sunday brings a sense of foreboding. “Right now, we are in a meeting and the subject is how not to give anybody a chance to accuse us of anything,” said a student from Kashmir at Meerut’s Swami Vivekanand Subharti University (SVSU), who preferred to be identified as just SS and was among the 67 students who were expelled after being accused of cheering for Pakistani team on March 2 last year.

SS, who was among the 57 students recalled by the university “after spoiling our two months” while it rusticated 10 others, added, “Our parents are also concerned and have advised us that we should conduct ourselves in such a way that we do not face any problems later.” In the past few years, Kashmiri students have often been targeted for cheering for Pakistan, making every India-Pakistan encounter a matter of fresh worry for their parents back home.

“I am sure that my kids are bookworms who think sport is just waste of time. But every time there is an India-Pakistan match, I get worried because you never know who will accuse you of some wrongdoing,” said Yaqoob M, a south Kashmir-based fruit merchant whose two sons study in south India. He added that his wife has advised both the sons not to move out of their hostel this Sunday.

Students from the Valley have increasingly turned to the rest of the country over the past decade for studies and coaching, forced as they have been by a rundown educational infrastructure. The Centre has undertaken a few programmes over the past few years, but these have not succeeded in stemming the tide. Under Udaan (flight), a special industry initiative started by the erstwhile Manmohan Singh-led government, 40,000 graduates and postgraduates were to train and get employed with leading Indian companies.

So far, just 3,500 have been trained and about half of them are drawing salaries. Under Himayat (support), another initiative of Prime Minister’s Office, 100,000 school dropouts are supposed to get trained in various skills with ensured placement. Nearly 15,000 have already been placed, mostly outside Kashmir.

Under PMSSS (Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme), HRD ministry is funding studies of Kashmiri students in professional colleges and the target is 100,000 in five years. So far, about 5,000 have availed of the scheme. Kashmiri students are now present in large numbers in Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, Delhi, Punjab, Bhopal and most of western Uttar Pradesh.

Little wonder then, a number of universities and professional colleges across the country have set up admission cells in Srinagar. “In Punjab, there are colleges which look completely Kashmir campuses because ninety percent students come from the valley,” said writer Shams Irfan, whose uncles live there. “It has changed the local businesses around to suit the new market inside.”