Hindutva group attacks Kashmiri vendors in Lucknow

SRINAGAR — Two Kashmiri men selling dry fruits on a roadside were assaulted by two saffron-clad members of a right wing outfit in Lucknow on Wednesday.

The two men were abused, slapped and beaten with a stick because of their identity and were rescued by some locals. The locals also called the police.

A video of the incident, which took place in Daliganj area, has gone viral on social media sites. In a tweet, Lucknow Police said that a case has been registered and necessary action was being taken.

When the two attackers were asked why they were beating up the Kashmiri men, they replied that they were ‘Kashmiris’. The Kashmiri men were also asked to produce Aadhaar cards, but that did not stop the assault.

According to sources, the attackers belong to a new Hindutva outfit.

Earlier too, Kashmiris selling dry fruits were beaten on the Daliganj Bridge in Lucknow.

Also, shopkeepers in Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh were forced by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) workers to shut their stalls at a handicraft exhibition in the presence of police. VHP workers had also forcibly closed down Kashmiri stalls at an exhibition in Faridpur, Bareilly.

Kashmiris have also been attacked in other parts of the country in the aftermath of the Pulwama fidayeen attack, in which a local youth rammed an explosive-laden car into a CRPF convoy, leading to the death of 40 soldiers.

The attacker, Adil Ahmad Dar, was affiliated to militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed.