Harassment – Others

Fears of profiling after DU seeks Aadhaar and address details in unofficial group; students say move feels unsafe and discriminatory.

Sitting in his modest rented room in North Delhi, 22-year-old Aamir Mohidin, a B.Com student at Delhi University, scrolled through a WhatsApp message that left him feeling exposed and anxious. The message had landed in a group chat of students from Jammu and Kashmir, just days after the deadly Pahalgam attack that killed 26 tourists. The sender? Delhi University’s Proctor’s Office, requesting Aadhaar numbers and full residential addresses—including floor numbers—of Kashmiri students living in the capital.

What disturbed Aamir most was not just the nature of the request, but the platform it was delivered on—an unofficial group with dozens of students from different areas. “We were told to share these details in that group. It was shocking. If it were only between the administration and us, it wouldn’t have been an issue,” he said. “But sharing it in an unofficial group didn’t feel right.”…

Delhi University confirmed that departments and affiliated colleges had been directed to collect Aadhaar and current residential details of students from J&K, citing a communication from the Proctor’s Office.

An email from the university described the data as “essential… to maintain accurate student records” and asked for submissions by April 29.