Srinagar: A suspected Bajrang Dal activist has been arrested along with his associates in connection with a brutal assault on a Kashmiri shawl seller in Uttarakhand earlier this week that has prompted widespread outrage in J&K.
This is the second incident within a fortnight where a Kashmiri shawl seller has faced targeted harassment at the hands of Hindu rightwing activists. This also comes in the backdrop of the Delhi suicide bombing, which led to a series of targeted attacks on Kashmiris in other parts of the country.
In a video statement issued on Thursday night, Manikant Mishra, senior superintendent of police in Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar district, said that the latest incident took place on Monday (December 22) in the jurisdiction of Kashipur police station.
Mishra said that a video posted to Instagram account @ANKURSINGHBAJRANGDAL circulated on social media on December 24, showing a shawl seller from Kashmir being beaten up and threatened by some local residents of Kashipur.
The victim has been identified as Bilal Ahmad Ganie, a resident of Kupwara district in north Kashmir. Mishra said that Ahmad was a known face in Kashipur as he has been selling Kashmiri shawls in the area for the last nine years.
Ahmad was busy moving door to door hawking Kashmiri shawls on Monday when he was stopped by a group of five to six young men who were riding motorcycles on the main road in Kashipur.
The two-minute video filmed by one of the perpetrators shows a young man in his thirties wearing a blue sweatshirt and black half-jacket grasping the right arm of Ahmad near what appears to be a busy area while ordering him to chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.
A small crowd of curious motorcyclists and pedestrians, including some females, builds up around the site of the commotion as the perpetrator pushes and slaps Ahmad, who refuses to oblige and instead offers to chant ‘Bharat Ki Jai’.
Ahmad can also be seen politely asking the man filming the incident to turn off the camera. However, his response annoys the main perpetrator who warns Ahmad that he was going to get thrashed if he doesn’t chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.
“Which country do you live in? Are you from Pakistan? See these bastards. They live in Kashmir. Look what they have done in Bangladesh,” he says to the camera, while twisting the wrist of Ahmad and launching into a flurry of abuses, slaps and kicks which leave Ahmad visibly shaken.
The video shows the perpetrator pinning Ahmed on the ground while few others also join in the assault. “You eat what India provides you. You do business in India and earn here but you won’t say ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’?”
At least six perpetrators are seen in the video who seem to have participated in the violence, including the unidentified man who is filming the attack, while a group of local men and women can be seen watching the spectacle from a distance without intervening.
Later, Ahmad can be seen submitting twice to the demands of the attackers who are believed to be affiliated with the Bajrang Dal. According to reports, the victim was traumatised by the attack and didn’t approach the police initially due to fear of reprisal.
Fearing for his life, Ahmad’s family is also reported to have urged him to return to Kashmir.
