INDIA’S DEMOCRATIC DECEPTION AND THE CALCULATED PERSECUTION OF KASHMIRI STUDENTS

India loves to parade itself as the world’s largest democracy on every international stage. Its leaders use expensive PR machinery to talk about equality and constitutional rights while the reality on the ground is a nightmare. For Kashmiri students who leave their homes for an education the experience is one of pure terror and systematic targeting. The numbers do not lie and they expose a state that is actively hostile toward its own youth.

1. THE PLANNED EXODUS OF KASHMIRI YOUTH

1.1 The Dramatic Collapse of Student Enrollment

The most damning evidence of this hostility is found in the state of Uttarakhand. In just a few years there has been a staggering 67 percent decline in Kashmiri student enrollment. The numbers have plummeted from 6,000 students down to a mere 2,000. This is not a random drop but a forced exodus caused by an environment where Kashmiri students are no longer welcome. When 4,000 students vanish from a state’s educational system it is a clear sign of institutional failure. These young people are being driven out by a combination of physical threats and a complete lack of protection from the local authorities.

1.2 Institutional Negligence and Student Flight

Colleges and universities in India which should be safe havens for learning have instead become hostile ground. Many institutions have informally discouraged admissions from the region because they do not want to take responsibility for the safety of Kashmiri Muslims. This isn’t just a lack of security but a deliberate attempt to marginalize an entire generation by denying them a peaceful path to higher education.

2. THE 2019 REIGN OF TERROR AND MASS EVACUATION

2.1 The Dehradun Crisis and the 97 Percent Evacuation

The mask of Indian democracy fell completely after the 2019 Pulwama attack. In the city of Dehradun the situation became so life threatening that nearly 97 percent of Kashmiri students had to be evacuated. They were hunted in their hostels and rented rooms while the state watched. Mobs roamed the streets looking for anyone with a Kashmiri identity and the police in many cases did absolutely nothing to intervene.

2.2 A State of Constant Distress and Forced Withdrawals

Student associations reported receiving more than 1,000 distress calls from students fearing for their lives during that period of madness. There were at least 17 documented major incidents of harassment and physical violence in states like Uttarakhand and Punjab along with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Because of this state sponsored fear around 700 Kashmiri students were forced to completely abandon their degrees and return home with broken dreams. These students did not fail their exams but they were failed by a country that promised them safety and gave them trauma instead.

3. CONSTITUTIONAL LIES AND RELIGIOUS PROFILING

3.1 The Total Failure of Article 14 and 21

The Indian Constitution promises equality under Article 14 and the right to life under Article 21. However for a Kashmiri Muslim these are just words on paper. In reality universities have been caught demanding personal and biometric data specifically from Kashmiri students. This is direct profiling that treats every Kashmiri student as a suspect rather than a citizen. No other group in India is subjected to such humiliating surveillance just to attend a lecture.

3.2 Majoritarian Politics on the Campus Floor

Under the current BJP government the campus environment has turned into a breeding ground for extremist ideologies. When the state promotes a narrative that targets minorities the students become the easiest victims. This is why Kashmiri students are forced to hide their identity and lock themselves in their rooms to survive. The fear of being lynched or slapped with false sedition charges is a daily reality for them.

4. THE DOUBLE BURDEN OF THE OCCUPIED REGION

4.1 The Illusion of Progress in Jammu and Kashmir

The crisis is not just outside Kashmir but also within the region itself. While India claims there is over 98 percent access to schools the ground reality is different. Over 90 percent of schools might have electricity and 90.84 percent might have girls’ toilets but the mental toll of the conflict is visible in the dropout rates. You cannot build a future with bricks and toilets when the students are living under a constant military shadow.

4.2 Rising Dropout Rates and Educational Decay

The secondary level dropout rate in Jammu and Kashmir is nearly 12.9 percent. At the upper primary level it is 3.2 percent and even at the primary level it is 1.5 percent. When these students finally manage to clear these hurdles and go to India for higher studies they are met with 97 percent evacuation rates and violent mobs. This is a double trap because they are not safe at home and they are certainly not safe in the rest of India.

5. A SYSTEMATIC CRUSHING OF AMBITION

5.1 The Psychological War on Students

Beyond the physical violence there is a psychological war being waged. Kashmiri students often report that they avoid speaking their mother tongue in public. They stay away from social media discussions for fear of being targeted by the authorities. This atmosphere of surveillance has turned universities into open air prisons for them.

5.2 Economic Loss and Shattered Futures

When 700 students abandon their studies it is not just an educational loss but an economic disaster for their families. These families often spend their life savings to send their children to Indian colleges hoping for a better life. When these children return home because of threats and violence it breaks the back of the Kashmiri middle class. This seems to be a deliberate policy to keep the Kashmiri people economically and educationally backward.

6. A PROVEN FAKE NARRATIVE

India cannot continue to call itself a democracy while its campuses are unsafe for Kashmiris. The data of 1,000 distress calls and a 67 percent drop in enrollment is a slap in the face of the Indian judicial system. It is time the world looks past the shiny slogans of New Delhi and sees the bruised faces of the students who have been hounded out of their classrooms.

A country that cannot protect its students has no right to lecture the world on human rights. The systematic persecution of Kashmiri students is a dark stain on India that no amount of diplomatic talk can wash away. Until every Kashmiri student can study without the fear of being attacked or profiled the Indian claim of equal rights will remain nothing more than a hollow and insulting lie.