Kashmiri dry fruit sellers attacked on Lucknow street, locals come to rescue

In a disturbing incident last afternoon, two Kashmiri dry fruit sellers were thrashed by members of a right-wing group on a busy street in Lucknow’s Daliganj.

Videos of the incident that emerged show the two men getting assaulted. In one video, a Kashmiri dry-fruit vendor is seen being attacked with a stick while the other man pleads to the assailants to stop hitting him. Men in saffron garb can be heard in the videos stating that they were carrying out the attack as the men were from Kashmir.

They even demanded to see the identity card of one of the dry-fruit sellers. The video also shows the locals step in to stop the assaults. One local resident can be heard saying, “Don’t take the law into your hands. Call the police.”

While a case of rioting and breach of peace has been registered and one individual by the name of Bajrang Sonkar has been arrested by the police, the main accused who presents himself as the president of a particular right wing organisation hasn’t been arrested yet. He had posted a video of the attack on Facebook which has since been taken down.

In the aftermath of the Pulwama terror strike in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway on February 14, there have been reports of attacks on Kashmiris in from different states.

In one such incident, Kashmiri students in Dehradun were asked to vacate their rented apartments by the landlord who feared a backlash on his property.

The Supreme Court has since issued a directive to states on February 22, asking that “all acts of assault, threats, intimidation and boycott of Kashmiris and other minorities” are checked and brought to the attention of the administration.

Uttar Pradesh director general (law and order) Anand Kumar spoke to the media calling it an “unfortunate and one-off incident”. He has also promised the “strongest possible action” against the perpetrators of the attack.