'Need empathy, no surveillance': JKSA slams Delhi University for 'profiling' Kashmiri students

NEW DELHI: Amid growing concerns over the safety and harassment of Kashmiri students, Delhi University (DU) has come under sharp criticism for seeking personal details exclusively from students belonging to Jammu and Kashmir. The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) has written to Union home minister Amit Shah, seeking immediate intervention over what they describe as a “discriminatory directive” targeting Kashmiri students.

Several DU-affiliated colleges have reportedly received instructions to collect personal information — including permanent address, contact number, email ID, and course details — from students of Jammu and Kashmir. An email regarding this was sent from the Proctor’s Office, triggering outrage among students and leaving many anxious about the potential misuse of their personal details.

The subject line of the email read: “Submission of Aadhar Number and Residential Address (Delhi Hostel/PG)”. It stated: “We have received a communication from the Proctor's office, University of Delhi, requesting students from Jammu & Kashmir to provide their Aadhar Number and Residential Address (for those residing in Delhi Hostels/PGs or similar accommodations). Please note that the deadline for submitting this information is 10:00 AM on 29th April 2025.”

The information is for the Proctor's Office to “maintain accurate student records,” according to an screenshot of the email shared by JKSA.

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JK students make 3 demands

In a formal letter to the Union home minister, the JKSA made three key demands:

• Immediate withdrawal of the directive or circular profiling students from Jammu and Kashmir.
• A public statement from Delhi University authorities disavowing such discriminatory practices.
• Clear guidelines to ensure that no educational institution engages in regional, ethnic, or religious profiling of students under any circumstance.

“ Targeting students from Jammu and Kashmir in this manner suggests an alarming pattern of selective surveillance that alienates youth and casts unwarranted suspicion on their intent, identity, and patriotism. Such profiling is not only discriminatory but also violates the principles of equality, dignity, and non-discrimination enshrined in the Constitution,” the association wrote.

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Move contradicts PM Modi’s vision

The JKSA further argued that profiling a particular group undermines India’s pluralistic and inclusive identity, stating: “It contradicts Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s repeated commitments to win the hearts and minds of Jammu and Kashmir’s youth and only widens the emotional distance between Kashmir and the rest of the country.”

Dissatisfied with DU’s response that the directive came from the ministry of home affairs (MHA), the JKSA said such reasoning is “unacceptable”, as students already submit personal data during the admission process.

The association added: “What is needed is empathy, not surveillance. What is required is partnership, not profiling. Universities must be bastions of freedom, thought, and dignity—not tools of securitization and suspicion.”

“Are these actions intended to suggest that students from Jammu and Kashmir are lesser citizens? Are they to be viewed as suspects in their own country? Educational institutions must be spaces of safety, learning, and inclusion—not of surveillance and exclusion. The silence and ambiguity from university authorities only deepen the students’ sense of marginalization,” it added.