'Called us terrorists,' says 2 Kashmiri vendors thrashed in Lucknow; 4 held

Lucknow: Two Kashmiri street vendors were attacked by a group of men in saffron shirts on a busy road in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow on Wednesday.

A local resident, Bajrang Sonker, has been arrested for thrashing the vendors. He has more than a dozen criminal cases including that of murder, loot, theft and arms act pending against him.

On his tip off, three others -- Himanshu Garg, Aniruddh and Amar Kumar -- were also arrested on Thursday, the police said.

The street vendors were selling dry fruits when they were attacked and the locals rescued them.

The victims were identified as Abdul Salam and Afzal of Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir, who came to the city during winters to sell dry fruits.

“The accused just descended on us. They started beating us and calling us terrorists. We have been coming for 20 years. Something like this has never happened with us before," one of the victims said.

"We were told that we sell items here and throw stones there. They started thrashing us. They asked for our Aadhaar cards," Mohammmed Afzal Naik said.

“We are happy that police have arrested the men who beat us up. We meet the SSP (senior superintendent of police) and he said that police are with us,” Salam said in a video released by Lucknow Police.

The incident took place at around 5 pm on Wednesday in Daliganj in central Lucknow.

The video of the attack was widely shared on social media. One of the attackers is seen beating the man with a wooden stick. In one of the videos, one of the Kashmiri men is seen covering his head and pleading the attackers to stop beating him.

The former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, questioning his stance on the attacks on Kashmiris across India.

“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?” Omar Abdullah tweeted on Thursday.

“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 posted.

After the Pulwama terror attack, Kashmiris in various parts of the country were reported to have been harassed or intimidated.

Kashmiri students and businesses were targeted in several states, while at some places, police booked some Kashmiris for “anti-India” social media post Pulwama attack.

The Supreme Court had directed all states and Union territories last Friday to ensure that Kashmiris, particularly students, feel secure, amid reports from several parts of the country that they were being targeted over the Pulwama attack.