Outrage is sweeping Jammu and Kashmir following a vicious attack on two Kashmiri shawl vendors in Dehradun’s bustling streets. The unprovoked assault has united political opponents and student groups in fervent protest, with direct appeals to New Delhi for swift action.
Sunday saw PDP activists converge in Srinagar, blocking traffic and chanting slogans against the violence outside their office. Senior leader Sara Naema laid bare the prejudice at play: a young Kashmiri boy, guilty only of his roots and faith, savagely beaten while peddling winter wares.
Mehbooba Mufti, PDP president, fired off a scathing post on X, painting a grim picture of vulnerability. She recounted how no one intervened as the vendor was pummeled near death, yet police mobilized en masse to disperse her party’s anti-atrocity march. Mufti’s words cut deep: ‘Confined at home, thrashed abroad— is survival now a punishable offense for Kashmiris in modern India?’
Parallel efforts by the Jammu Kashmir Students Association added weight to the uproar. Their letter to Home Minister Amit Shah meticulously outlined the Dehradun horror in Vikas Nagar. The family man, enduring biting cold to sell shawls, faced identity checks that spiraled into brutality once his Kashmiri Muslim background surfaced.
Iron rods rained down, snapping his left arm and gashing his head—13 stitches later, he’s a symbol of targeted hate. Far from isolated crime, the group argues, this assaults the bedrock of Indian unity and constitutional ethos.
With echoes of similar incidents lingering, the response—or lack thereof—from Uttarakhand police fuels demands for federal probe. PDP vows sustained agitation, while students urge minority safeguards. This flare-up tests India’s commitment to inclusivity amid rising regional tensions.