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The Supreme Court will hear on Friday a PIL seeking protection for Kashmiri students being targeted following the Pulwama terror attack in different parts of the country over which the NC leader Omar Abdullah accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of remaining 'silent'.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), meanwhile, issued notice to the Union Ministries of Home and Human Resource Development seeking a report over the reported ill-treatment of Kashmiri people in the aftermath of the attack.
Forty CRPF personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14 when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus.
An apex court bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices L N Rao and Sanjiv Khanna took note of senior advocate Colin Gonsalves' submission that the plea for protection needed to be heard urgently as it relates to the safety and security of students.
The bench, which refused to list the plea for hearing on Thursday, however, assured Gonsalves that it will be listed for consideration on Friday.
The petitioner Tariq Adeeb, a lawyer, alleged in his plea that students from the Kashmir Valley are being attacked at different educational institutions across the country after the Pulwama attack and authorities concerned should be directed to take action to stop such assaults.
The petition, filed through advocate Satya Mitra, sought direction to the Centre for taking 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".
"There is a sudden rise in the incidents of crimes against Muslims and Kashmiris after the Pulwama attack....," it alleged.
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, Abdullah, a former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, hit out at both the prime minister and the opposition Congress for not speaking out against the "systematic targeting of Kashmiris" in various parts of the country.
The National Conference(NC) leader said he had been looking for a statesman but only found politicians, and asserted that the country needs an alternative to the BJP, not BJP's B-team.
"We didn't have much expectation from the BJP but we had expectations from the prime minister. We had hoped he would keep politics aside and say something," he said.
"While the PM is silent, it is sad the country's largest opposition party's leadership also remained silent," Abdullah added.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said "time will come" when people's sentiments, their desires and expectations will have fulfilment.
Speaking at the inauguration of the "Waste to Wonder" Park under the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) here, he said, "mood is still not that one can participate in any programme with enthusiasm".
Singh said, he was "very assured that time will come when people's sentiments, their desires, their expectations will have fulfilment".
His remarks came in the wake of Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel on February 14.
Pakistan based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad had claimed responsibility for the attack.
(With inputs from agencies)
