On April 25, in Nakodar, Jalandhar, in India’s Punjab province, a 22-year-old Kashmiri student was brutally assaulted while on his way to meet a college friend. A mob confronted him, shouting, “Kashmiri ho?” (Are you a Kashmiri?). Before he could respond, they grabbed him by the hair and beat him mercilessly. His friend Atif*, described his voice afterward as "shaking, frightened, disoriented, and in pain."

TRT World has spoken to more than a dozen Kashmiri students and young traders across India for this report. Many requested that their names be changed or withheld, citing fears of further harassment, retaliation by landlords or college administrations, and concern for their families’ safety back home. Their testimonies expose the growing climate of fear and alienation faced by Kashmiris living outside their region.

“These students have worked so hard, but their whole year is at stake. Many are in their first semester, and now they’re torn between fear and finishing their exams,” Mohsin Abbas, from India’s Doon Group of Colleges, told TRT World.

The attack in Jalandhar is not an isolated incident. Every time violence erupts in Indian-administered Kashmir, a familiar cycle repeats. Kashmiris, especially students and small traders, become the first targets of "nationalist" fury, particularly from Hindutva-aligned groups and BJP supporters.

Pattern of persecution

The April 22 attack in Pahalgam, which killed 26 tourists and injured many more, triggered a renewed wave of hostility. Inflammatory posts flooded social media, and calls for economic and social boycotts of Kashmiris grew louder.

Landlords evicted Kashmiri tenants. Shopkeepers refused to sell goods to Kashmiri-owned businesses. Physical assaults escalated. Fear once again crept into the daily lives of young Kashmiris who had hoped to find security and opportunity, away from the conflict back home.

In Dehradun, Uttarakhand, fear spread swiftly after a video went viral showing Lalit Sharma, leader of the Hindu Raksha Dal, a right-wing Hindu nationalist group, threatening Kashmiri Muslim students with violence if they remained in the city after 10 am.

“The video was everywhere. We had to pack our bags in a rush and flee in fear,” said Hamid*, a 23-year-old Pharmacy student from Shopian in Indian-administered Kashmir, when he and scores of Kashmiri students in the city headed for the airport to return home. “Our families panicked. My mother begged me to come back. She was scared for my life,” he told TRT World.

“Within hours, around 60 Kashmiri students from different colleges rushed to the airport,” he said. Many had to borrow money to afford last-minute flights. Some stayed behind, afraid to step outside their hostels.

“For three days, we barely slept or ate,” another unnamed student shared. "The fear was overwhelming."

The backlash has also seeped into educational institutions traditionally considered safe spaces.

At Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia University, a 24-year-old Kashmiri woman pursuing her MA was assaulted on campus on April 27 by a kitchen worker.

While police framed the incident as stemming from a personal dispute, student groups like the All India Students' Association (AISA) connected it to the larger trend of anti-Kashmiri hostility. They criticised the university’s security lapses and condemned the attack as part of the post-Pahalgam backlash against Kashmiris.

This incident has further deepened the sense of vulnerability among Kashmiri students, even in spaces meant to protect them.

Online hate and manufactured narratives

Compounding their fears is a flood of hate-filled misinformation online.

Right-wing influencers and Hindutva-aligned accounts have filled platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram with inflammatory rhetoric, portraying Kashmiris as terrorist sympathisers. Some posts have openly advocated violence, including sexual assault, against Kashmiri women.

Even elected officials have contributed to the hysteria. BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari falsely accused two Kashmiri men of setting up suspicious surveillance equipment. The accusation led to members of Hindu Raksha Dal, a vigilante group, threatening Kashmiri Muslim students in Dehradun to leave the state or “face consequences”.

Police investigations later revealed the men Adhikari had accused were engineers from Madhya Pradesh installing a basic internet device.

“This pattern is consistent with our research,” Raqib Hameed Naik, Executive Director at the Centre for the Study of Organised Hate, told TRT World. “Events like the Pahalgam attack are weaponised to inflame public sentiment and mobilise hatred.”

Beyond the threats online, real-world consequences are severe.

Nasir Khuehami, of the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association told TRT World that he has been inundated with calls from “distressed students”.

“I’ve received hundreds of calls from Kashmiri students across India, they are in fear”, he said.

Along with reports of verbal abuse and physical violence against Kashmiri students in Uttarakhand, young women in Punjab’s Kharar have also faced harassment, accused of "spreading terrorism." While colleges have since increased campus security, the emotional scars remain.

“The girls were scared and shaken; they rushed back to their hostels, feeling completely helpless,” said Mir Tufail, a Kashmiri student from the same college.

Some students found unexpected kindness. In Dehradun, a Kashmiri student said a local Hindu family shielded him during the worst days: "They didn’t let me go out during that time. They made sure I stayed safe."

But most Kashmiri students now face devastating choices: prioritise their safety or risk missing critical final exams scheduled for June.

Political response amid fear

In response to rising reports of attacks, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah urged his counterparts across Indian states to ensure Kashmiri students’ safety.

“The J&K government is in touch with the governments of the States where these reports are originating from. I have requested that they take extra care,” Abdullah wrote on X.

Helpline numbers were quickly circulated for Kashmiris seeking help. But for many students, reassurance from officials feels distant from the reality on the ground.

Ahmad*, a sixth-semester student who left Kashmir three years ago to study in Dehradun, said he no longer knows where safety lies.

“I grew up surrounded by conflict — military cordons, search operations. Studying outside Kashmir was supposed to be my escape. But now we don’t feel safe anywhere."

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Iltija Mufti summed up the grim reality: "Every time there’s a terror attack, it somehow comes home to haunt us. Kashmiri students, traders, businessmen – they become soft targets."

She told TRT World that, in the last eight years, the right-wing ecosystem has blurred the distinction between Muslims, Kashmiris, and militants, intensifying public suspicion and hatred.

Political analyst Praveen Donthi echoed the concern, saying that the government’s Hindutva-driven politics has reduced Kashmir to a "security problem," while deepening alienation and distrust.

"The Indian government must address the growing alienation among Kashmiris, restore their political voice, and engage directly with them if there is to be any hope for lasting peace," he said.

For Kashmiris across India, the search for safety remains an uncertain and exhausting journey.

*Names have been changed to protect the identities of Kashmiri students, amid fears of retaliation and harassment.