SRINAGAR: Ahead of the forthcoming Budget Session of Parliament, Nasir Khuehami, National Convener of the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA), held an extensive and detailed meeting with Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Sajjad Kichloo on Tuesday in New Delhi to discuss a range of pressing issues concerning students and marginalised communities from Jammu and Kashmir.
The meeting, which lasted for over three hours, witnessed in-depth deliberations on multiple long-pending and emergent concerns requiring urgent parliamentary and administrative intervention, the JKSA said in a statement issued here.
During the meeting, Khuehami flagged the deteriorating situation faced by Kashmiri students studying across the country, with particular emphasis on the ongoing hostel crisis at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. He apprised the Rajya Sabha MP about repeated representations, made by JKSA highlighting acute accommodation shortages, lack of transparent allotment mechanisms, and the resulting academic and psychological distress faced by students; especially those coming from economically weaker backgrounds. Khuehami stressed that the issue has been consistently raised across public platforms and formal submissions to authorities, yet remains unresolved.
The discussion also focused extensively on the alarming rise in incidents of harassment, intimidation, and physical assaults against Kashmiri shawl sellers and traders in various parts of the country, the statement said. Khuehami highlighted a worrying pattern of repeated targeting of shawl vendors in states such as Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and other regions, where these traders; many of whom have been engaged in this livelihood for decades have faced violence, extortion, arbitrary evictions, and social profiling.
The meeting also covered a wide range of other student-related concerns, including challenges related to scholarships, accommodation, academic delays, and the need for institutional sensitivity.
Responding to the concerns, Rajya Sabha MP Sajjad Kichloo assured that he would formally raise these matters during the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament.
Kichloo further assured that he would seek the Union Home Ministry’s direct intervention regarding the repeated harassment of Kashmiri shawl sellers and would press for the formulation of a robust inter-state coordination mechanism involving state police forces, district administrations, and central agencies to prevent recurrence of such incidents.