Two Kashmiri street vendors were attacked by a group of men in saffron shirts on a busy road in Uttar Pradesh’s capital Lucknow on Wednesday.
A local resident, Bajrang Sonker, has been arrested for thrashing the Kashmiri street vendors, police said. In a video of the attack, which is being widely shared on social media, two men in saffron kurtas are seen thrashing one of the vendors.
One of the attackers is seen beating the man with a wooden stick as he cowers and runs away after a while.
Circle officer of Mahanagar police station Santosh Singh said the incident happened at Daliganj bridge in Lucknow’s Hasanganj locality when the men selling dry fruits were attacked by the group. He said locals rescued them.
Singh said the incident was reported to the local police after the video of the attack went viral on the social media late on Wednesday night. He said an FIR against unidentified men was registered in the matter and Sonker was arrested. He said Sonker was seen holding a stick in the viral video.
The former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, questioning his stance on the attacks on Kashmiris across India.
“Dear PM @narendramodi Sahib, this is what you had spoken against & yet it continues unabated. This is the state governed by your handpicked Chief Minister. Can we expect action in this case or do we file your concern & assurances as a jumla, meant to placate but nothing more?” Omar Abdullah tweeted on Thursday.
“Nothing will do more damage to the idea of India in J&K than videos like these. Keep thrashing Kashmiris like this on the streets at the hands of RSS/Bajrang Dal goons & then try to sell the idea of “atoot ang”, it simply wont fly (sic),” the National Conference leader posted.
Kashmiris in various parts of the country were reported to have been harassed or intimidated in retaliation against the Pulwama terror attack, prompting the Union home ministry to issue an advisory all states to ensure safety and security of the students and people from Jammu and Kashmir living in their areas.
Kashmiri students and businesses were targeted in several states, while at some places, police booked some Kashmiris for “anti-India” social media posts allegedly praising the suicide attack, in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed on February 14.
Students from Kashmir bore the brunt of the backlash that followed the attack with hundreds fleeing cities such as Dehradun and Ambala after being threatened by right-wing activists who, in some cases, resorted to physical intimidation and forced landlords to evict the victims.
The top court had directed all states and Union territories last Friday to ensure that Kashmiris, particularly students, feel secure, amid reports from several parts of the country that they were being targeted over the Pulwama attack.
The bench, including Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, had said in the order that chief secretaries and heads of police in all states must take prompt action to prevent “incidents of assault, threat, social boycott and such other egregious acts against the Kashmiris including students… and other minorities”.