The Supreme Court's intervention to protect Kashmiris and minorities from mob violence in the aftermath of the February 14 Pulwama terror attack has been an effective deterrent, the Central government told the court. Attorney General K.K. Venugopal on Wednesday informed a Bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi that not a single instance of violence has happened ever since the Supreme Court trained its spotlight on the issue on February 22.
A Bench of the court, led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, on February 22, firmly directed the Centre, Chief Secretaries and police chiefs of several States to protect Kashmiris and minority communities, especially students, from backlash in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel.
On hearing the submission by Mr. Venugopal, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said there was no need to pass any further orders on the issue. The court, however, asked the Centre and 10 States to file their responses in seven days, explaining the violence against Kashmiri students. The court had asked the States' police chiefs to direct their officers to promptly take action on complaints. The nodal officers appointed in the States to prevent incidents of lynching and mob violence were tasked to prevent and defuse tensions. The petition was filed by advocate Tariq Adeeb, represented by senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, to direct the Centre to “forthwith take steps to prevent threats, assaults, violent attacks, social boycotts, ostracism, evictions and other coercive acts committed by groups and mobs against Kashmiris and other minorities, particularly in the wake of the Pulwama attack”. It referred to incidents of violence against these communities in States like Bihar, Chattisgarh, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. Two more States — Punjab and Maharashtra — have been added to the watch list. The court had also asked the Delhi Police Commissioner to be alert. The Ministry of Home Affairs had issued an advisory to the States and Union Territories on February 17 to thwart violence against vulnerable groups after the Pulwama incident. The court had referred to its July 2018 judgment which had said how "horrendous acts of mobocracy" threaten the "pluralistic social fabric" of the country.
