Shawl sellers from Kashmir asked where they’re from, assaulted in Dehradun; 18-year-old suffers head injury

Following the incident, in which the 18-year-old suffered head injuries, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said recent attacks against Kashmiris in other parts of the country, including in Himachal Pradesh, are unacceptable and must stop.

“It can’t be claimed that J&K is an inalienable part of India while people from Kashmir, in other parts of the country, live in fear for their lives,” Abdullah said, adding, “My government will step in wherever necessary and will do whatever is needed to ensure these incidents are not repeated.”

CM Abdullah, who earlier spoke to his Uttarakhand counterpart, Pushkar Singh Dhami, expressed hope that the Union government will “sensitise other states” on the matter.

The brothers’ relative, Mansur Ahmed, who also visits Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh for the shawl business, said the younger brother had joined Danish for the first time, as their father had left for Ambala

“Their family had come down to Uttarakhand after winter set in. On Wednesday evening, when the duo were speaking among themselves, the shopkeeper asked them where they were from. When they said they were Kashmiris, they started beating them up. Tabish was badly injured and was taken to a hospital in Vikas Nagar after which he was referred to Doon Hospital,” Ahmed said.

The police said that Tabish sustained a head injury and required seven sutures. “Both the youths had come from Kashmir during the holidays to stay with their father, who lives in a rented accommodation in Paonta Sahib, and were assisting him in his work of selling goods as street vendors in the surrounding areas,” said Dehradun SSP, Ajai Singh.

A man identified as Sanjay Yadav has been taken into custody, said Singh.

An FIR has been registered under BNS sections 117(2) (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace).

Images of the injured 18-year-old, which went viral on social media, have led to reactions from several political leaders from the Kashmir Valley, who demanded action by the Uttarakhand government against the attackers.

“This 18-year-old Kashmiri shawl vendor was assaulted in Uttarakhand with iron rods till his bones crumbled. It’s one of many acts of violence against Kashmiris in India, where perpetrators know they enjoy institutional impunity,” People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Iltija Mufti said. “These are not fringe elements anymore. BJP is actively mainstreaming the ‘fringe’, which is no longer on the periphery.”

Iltija Mufti sought the intervention of Uttarakhand CM Dhami. “Can we kindly request you to take action?” she asked.

People’s Conference president Sajad Lone said the attack was a reflection of a “culture of tolerance of intolerant incidents”.

“The attacks against Kashmiris across the country show no signs of abating… This shows a culture of tolerance across the country to such intolerant incidents. Regrettably, not many voices in the country are perturbed about these events,” Lone said in a post on X.

National Conference spokesperson Imran Nabi called the attack “unacceptable and condemnable”.

“We expect that the rule of law will be upheld and that those who attacked him and his family be booked under stringent laws,” Nabi told The Indian Express.

“We request the Prime Minister and the Home Minister to send out a clear signal to all the hate mongers that this will not be tolerated. This has been happening frequently now to the people who are going out to earn their livelihoods,” Nabi said.

Communist leader M Y Tarigami also demanded action against the attackers. “Another young Kashmiri shawl seller has been brutally attacked in Uttarakhand,” Tarigami said, adding, “These traders travel across India to earn an honest livelihood, yet repeated assaults reveal a disturbing pattern that demands urgent action and accountability.”

A large number of Kashmiris venture out of J&K during the winters, when most of the work is stalled in the Valley because of harsh winters, to work in different parts of the country. Some of them go door-to-door in parts of North India to sell Kashmiri shawls.

This is not the first time a Kashmiri shawl vendor was attacked in Uttarakhand. In December, a shawl seller was assaulted by a group in Udham Singh Nagar’s Kashipur. A video of the incident showed the accused beating up Bilal Ganie of Kupwara while asking him to chant “Bharat Mata ki jai”. Ganie is seen being assaulted by a group of five men who abuse him for refusing to repeat their chants.

Last April, shortly after the Pahalgam attack, two men selling Kashmiri shawls and clothes on the Mall Road in Mussoorie were assaulted by a group of men and asked to leave. As a result, 16 people were forced to return to Kashmir, leaving behind their goods. In a video, the group of assailants was seen hurling abuse at the two vendors and beating them repeatedly.

Moreover, students from the Valley were attacked in their hostels in Dehradun in 2019 over a social media post on the Pulwama attack. Further, in 2017, the traders’ body in Mussoorie had asked Kashmiri vendors and shopkeepers to leave the city following a cricket match between India and Pakistan, in which the latter won and a few juveniles allegedly raised pro-Pakistan slogans. Though the children were not from the Valley, Kashmiris were accused of inciting them.