Indian police have arrested a man in connection with an assault on two Kashmiri shawl sellers from illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir in Uttarakhand’s Vikas Nagar area, following an incident in which one of the victims said the attackers referred to their religious identity.

 

 

In a video statement posted on X, Dehradun senior superintendent of police Ajay Singh said the main suspect, identified as Sanjay Yadav, had been taken into custody and that further investigation was underway.

 

 

The victims, brothers Danish Ganai and Tabish Rashid, are residents of Kupwara district in Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Ganai has been travelling to Uttarakhand during the winter season for the past three to four years to sell Kashmiri shawls. This year, Rashid joined him after insisting on contributing to the family’s income.

 

 

According to Rashid, the assault occurred on Wednesday evening after the brothers returned from Poanta Saheb in Himachal Pradesh, where they had been selling shawls earlier in the day. While heading back to their accommodation, they stopped at a shop on the outskirts of Vikas Nagar to eat.

 

Rashid said the shopkeeper objected to them speaking in Kashmiri and told them that Uttarakhand was not Kashmir. “The shopkeeper initially took offence because we were speaking in the Kashmiri language. He said that Uttarakhand is not Kashmir. Then he pushed me and asked us to leave,” he said.

 

 

As they stood up, the shopkeeper allegedly picked up their sack containing shawls and other belongings and threw it onto the road. Rashid said the brothers protested, telling him they had done nothing wrong. “We told him we had not committed any mistake to deserve this humiliation,” he said.

 

 

The dispute then moved outside the shop, where Rashid alleged the shopkeeper took out a baton and began beating his brother. When Rashid attempted to intervene, another man arrived carrying an iron rod.

 

 

“He was speaking as if being a Muslim and a Kashmiri was a crime,” Rashid said. He added that the man pushed him aside and struck him on the head with the iron rod, causing him to lose consciousness.

 

 

Before passing out, Rashid said he heard the assailant tell the shopkeeper: “They are Muslims. Let’s finish one first and deal with the other later.”

 

 

Mohd Shafiq, another resident of Kupwara who has been assisting the brothers in Uttarakhand, confirmed that the two men were assaulted by the shopkeeper and his associate. He said several local Hindu men and women intervened during the incident and stopped the attack.

 

 

Rashid sustained injuries, including a fracture in his arm, while Ganai suffered wounds to his leg. 

 

 

Rashid said he regained consciousness at a hospital, where he was surrounded by other Kashmiri shawl sellers and local residents. He later learnt that a Hindu woman who witnessed the incident testified that the brothers were not at fault.

 

 

Police at Vikas Nagar registered a case under Sections 117(2) and 352 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, against two persons. Rashid said cash amounting to nearly Rs 21,000, along with their shawls and other belongings, was missing after the assault. “There were 47 shawls worth several thousands in the sack,” he said.

 

 

He said his father had arrived in Uttarakhand and would decide the next course of action. "We have been attacked today, it will be someone else’s turn tomorrow,” Rashid said.