Four Kashmiri students were allegedly beaten at a private university in Rajasthan over rumours that they were cooking beef in their hostel room, reports NDTV. The incident allegedly took place on Monday at the Mewar University in Chittorgarh, about five hours from state capital Jaipur.


The police were called in to stop the attack on the four young men. Some Hindu activists reportedly also reached the campus and raised slogans.


The police said the situation was controlled before it could escalate. The meat being cooked has been sent for forensic tests, said a police officer. "We have students from all over the country...from 23 states. It is like a mini India. Sometimes, these small scuffles happen because people are from different socio-cultural backgrounds," University media liaison officer Harish Gurnani told the Indian Express newspaper.


Yesterday, home ministry sources clarified that its advisory had been misinterpreted after a report said that colleges in Kolkata have been asked to collate profiles of all students from Jammu and Kashmir. An advisory seen by NDTV that was sent in February to state governments says "There is perception among the people of Jammu and Kashmir that their wards are being treated with suspicion and hostility" at colleges.


Officials said that because families had complained that students have trouble finding housing, for example, they asked states to "ensure the protection of students from J&K".


The advisory also asks for the "utmost care and sensitivity" in handling Kashmiri students. Reacting to the news report, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah had accused the Centre of making Kashmiri students "insecure" by "singling them out for profiling" by security agencies across India.


Last year, attacks over beef rumours, including the mob killing of a man in Uttar Pradesh's Dadri, were cited as examples of "rising intolerance" in India, and the government's failure to check it. 


Pic: The Mewar university in Chittorgarh.