Indian ban on studies in Pakistan puts future of Kashmiri students at risk

India’s decision to effectively ban its citizens from studying in Pakistan has put in jeopardy the future of hundreds of Kashmiri students.

Scores of students from Indian-administered Kashmir are currently enrolled in Pakistani medical and engineering colleges and universities, while a similar number have completed their degrees and returned home.

"This move to invalidate the degrees of those who study in Pakistan is illogical and may prove to be disastrous for hundreds of students who are studying here," a Kashmiri student in Islamabad, who asked not to be named due to fear of reprisal from Indian security agencies, told Anadolu Agency.

"It seems they are hell-bent on destroying our careers. No democracy bans people from seeking education. But at the same time, what else can the colonized expect from the colonizer?"

Last week, Indian higher education authorities issued an advisory warning Indian nationals not to enroll in any college or educational institution in Pakistan.

Those intending to receive an education in Pakistan will not be eligible for employment or further education in India, said the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

"Any Indian national/Overseas Citizen of India who intends to take admission in any degree (of a) college/educational institution of Pakistan shall not be eligible for seeking employment or higher studies in India on the basis of such educational qualifications (in any subject) acquired in Pakistan," read the statement.

Currently, over 500 Kashmiri students are studying in Pakistan, and 50 to 100 graduate from Pakistani institutions each year, according to Pakistan-based representatives of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC).

The APHC is an alliance of several parties that has spearheaded the Kashmiri movement for self-determination and resistance against Indian rule since the early 1990s.

"The state of education in Kashmir due to the military occupation is severely troubled. Pakistan offers us an affordable rescue," said another Kashmiri student, who also preferred to remain anonymous.

Pakistan provides students from Indian-administered Kashmir with scholarships covering tuition fees, boarding and lodging and other facilities at educational institutions across the country.

"The Indian state's order is an attempt to deprive Kashmiris who choose to study in Pakistan of employment and livelihood opportunities," said the student, adding that the move was "not surprising."

"For a long time, family members of Kashmiri students studying in Pakistan have been harassed by Indian police and returning students have been subjected to interrogations," he said.

- Violation of basic rights

Advocate Nasir Qadri, executive director of the Legal Forum for Kashmir (LFK), an international advocacy group, accused New Delhi of "politicizing education."

"We have seen schools being attacked and students intimidated and harassed outside Jammu and Kashmir," he told Anadolu Agency.

According to Qadri, as armed conflict in the disputed region has intensified since India revoked its special status in August 2019, "education has become more dangerous for Kashmiri students and scholars."

He called on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to step up and protect Kashmiri students.

- 'Tyrannical authoritarianism'

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry has condemned the Indian advisory for its "threatening" tone, saying it "reeks of tyrannical authoritarianism."

"It is regrettable that driven by its incurable obsession with Pakistan, the government of India is unabashedly coercing the students in order to deter them from pursuing quality education of their choice," read a ministry statement.

Islamabad also sought clarification from the Indian government and said Pakistan reserves the right to take appropriate measures in response to New Delhi's "openly discriminatory and inexplicable action.”

It said the advisory showed the "deep-seated ideological animus and chronic hostility" that India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) harbors toward Pakistan, and criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government of "trying to stoke hyper-nationalism in the country."

- Disputed territory

Jammu and Kashmir, a former princely state, has been a bone of contention between Pakistan and India since 1947, following the end of British colonial rule in the subcontinent.

The picturesque Muslim-majority valley is held by the two nuclear rivals in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, Pakistan and India have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- and two of them were over Kashmir.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence or unification with neighboring Pakistan.

Relations between India and Pakistan plummeted to a new low after August 2019, when India scrapped the longstanding special status of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting Islamabad to downgrade its diplomatic ties with New Delhi.