Two Kashmiri men who were selling dry fruits on a roadside were attacked by a group of men in saffron shirts belonging to a fringe right-wing outfit in Uttar Pradesh's capital Lucknow on Wednesday, March 6.
In a viral video that has been doing the rounds on social media, the men can be seen thrashing, slapping and beating the traders. Also, they can be heard in the videos saying that they are doing it because the vendors are from Kashmir. The incident took place at around 5 pm yesterday in Daliganj area in central Lucknow.
Bajrang Sonker, one of the attackers, has been arrested by the Lucknow Police for assaulting the vendors. The other alleged accused Amar Mishra, who has shared the video on social media, is on the run.
Watch the video here.
SECOND video of the attack. These cries of this Kashmiri should make us all hand our heads in shame. Truly disgusted to see these clips. This is not the #NewIndia anyone can hope for. India is big, our hearts are bigger. Kashmir is our and so are the Kashmiris. pic.twitter.com/L7nXAqL2vf
— Prashant Kumar (@scribe_prashant) March 6, 2019
In the videos that were widely circulated, two men wearing saffron kurtas can be seen beating the victim with a wooden stick. The Kashmiri men can be seen covering his head and pleading the attackers to stop beating him. They were also asked to produce Aadhar cards, but that did not stop the assault. Failing to stop them, one of the fruit vendors ran away.
The locals' of Lucknow came to their rescue, they intervened and called the police. "Do not take law into your own hands. Call the police," one the locals can be seen saying in the video. Circle officer of Mahanagar police station Santosh Singh reportedly told a news website that the incident happened in Lucknow's Hasanganj locality when the men selling dry fruits were attacked by the saffron outfit.
The incident was reported to the local police after the video of the attack went viral on the social media late yesterday night. An FIR against unidentified men was registered in the matter and one person was arrested.
OMAR ABDULLAH PITCHED IN
National Conference leader and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter and wrote: "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? (sic)"
Now, he has tweeted an appeal for justice to Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who happens to be the MP from Lucknow.
Taking to Twitter, Omar Abdullah asked, "Jenab @rajnathsingh Sahib. You represent this constituency in the Lok Sabha, this is the constituency where Vajpayee Sb was elected from & went on to be PM. If no one else will step in & deliver justice can we expect you to punish those guilty of this assault?"
Other political parties, including the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party and also Asaduddin Owaisi condemned the assault of the Kashmiri men.
OTHER ATTACKS ON KASHMIRIS
Sporadic incidents of violence and alleged harassment were reported against Kashmiri students across India in the aftermath of the dastardly Pulwama terror attack. A 24-year-old journalist hailing from Jammu and Kashmir and working with a national English daily in Pune was allegedly attacked by some local youths in Maharashtra's Pune last month.
Earlier, attacks on Kashmiri students were reported from Dehradun, Jodhpur, Ambala, Panchkula, Delhi, and Patna among others.
The home ministry has issued an advisory to all states and Union territories to take measures to ensure the safety and security of Kashmiris. Attacks on Kashmiris escalated after the February 14 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama in which over 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers were killed.
