A shawl seller forced to chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' in Fatehabad; Fear and uncertainty grips Kashmiri students and traders
NEW DELHI – Kashmiri shawl sellers and traders in some northern states are facing increasingly difficult times as they are being harassed and intimidated for their religious identity. They are forced to leave the place where they used to stay and work for their livelihood. The latest incident has been reported from Fatehabad area of Haryana.
A video of a Kashmiri youth being forced to chant “Vande Mataram” in a threatening tone by a local resident has gone viral on Tuesday. It shows the Kashmiri youth being humiliated and subjected to degrading treatment as he refuses to chant the slogan.
According to media reports a few local women tried to calm the situation by pleading with the accused to stop the abuse, but in vain.
The J&K Students Association, which has released the video purportedly showing the Kashmiri seller facing harassment, said in a statement: “A Kashmiri youth selling warm clothes was accosted by a right-wing element in Haryana’s Fatehabad, who was holding a Kashmiri vendor by his collar and forcing him to chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Vande Mataram’. When the youth refused, he was threatened, grabbed by the neck, choked, and subjected to humiliating and degrading treatment.”
According to J&K Students Association national convenor Nasir Khuehami, there is a “growing reign of terror against Kashmiri shawl sellers and traders across several North Indian states including Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Uttarakhand.”
“In just ten days, more than a dozen incidents of intimidation, harassment, threats, and violence have occurred. This is not an isolated phenomenon but a systematic and dangerous pattern of targeted harassment,” he said.
Khuehami said Kashmiri shawl sellers were being accosted, threatened, and forcibly made to chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai, Jai Shree Ram and Vande Mataram’ slogans.
“When some Kashmiri traders refused, they were threatened, grabbed by the neck, choked, and subjected to humiliating and degrading treatment. Their belongings have been vandalised and looted, they have been prevented from selling their shawls, and in several cases their mobile phones were damaged when they attempted to record these incidents,” he said.
The J&K Students Association has also written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking urgent intervention to stop intimidation, harassment, and targeted violence against Kashmiri students and shawl vendors.
Recently, a group of Kashmiri shawl sellers, many of whom had been working in Himachal Pradesh for over 25 to 30 years, alleged that they were repeatedly targeted and intimidated and asked to stop their business, which is their primary source of livelihood.
It was the 17th alleged incident of harassment of Kashmiri shawl sellers in Himachal Pradesh in recent months.
The repeated incidents of harassment and inhuman behaviour have created fear and uncertainty among Kashmiri students and traders pursuing education and earning their livelihood outside Jammu and Kashmir.
