Saffron-clad men assault Kashmiri dry fruit seller in Lucknow, all four arrested

“A man was seen in a viral video thrashing a Kashmiri street vendor in Lucknow, the vendor was later saved by locals. The culprit Bajrang Sonkar has been arrested by police. Sonkar has criminal background and has 12 cases including a murder case against him,” said Kalanidhi Naithani, Senior Superintendent of Police.

Picture of one of the accused tweeted by Lucknow Police. (Source: Twitter/@lkopolice)

An FIR was registered later in the day against four people under the sections 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of IPC. The other two booked were identified as Himanshu Awasthi and Anirudhh Kumar.

On Thursday, sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 307 (attempt to murder) of IPC along with 7 CLA were added to the FIR. All four accused have been arrested.

SSP Kalanidhi Naithani informed that the accused were running a local trust with the name Vishwa Hindu Dal, running since 2018. He added that the action has been taken as the accused to give a message that such anarchy will not be tolerated.

Dal president Ambuj Nigam said that they all are BJP supporters.

Kashmiris have faced discrimination and assaults in several parts of the country following the February 14 terror attack in Pulwama in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed. In Uttarakhand, students were forced to leave college campuses. Two Dehradun-based educational institutions have said they will not admit Kashmiri students in future.

Reacting to the Lucknow incident, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted, “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 also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi if there will be action in the case as “this is what you had spoken against and yet it continues unabated.”

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? https://t.co/QyJKJ2i498

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) March 7, 2019

Students from Kashmir: Sent home, booked or expelled

PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti tweetes, “You humiliate & assault Kashmiris. Make them feel like criminals & that they dont belong to this country. Why are you surprised then when young pliable men are taken under the wings of terror groups & indoctrinated?”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier denounced the attacks and said at a rally that “our fight is for Kashmir, not against Kashmiris”. The Supreme Court has also directed all chief secretaries and police chiefs to take “prompt action” to prevent incidents of “assault, threat, social boycott and such other egregious acts” against Kashmiris.