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A Kashmiri shawl seller allegedly faced harassment in Haryana. J&K Students Association and leaders like Iltija Mufti and Sajad Gani Lone demand urgent action.
A screengrab from the the purported video. (Credit: X)
A Kashmiri shawl seller was allegedly harassed and forced to chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ slogan in Haryana’s Fatehabad area. This alleged incident has sparked outrage.
The J&K Students Association claimed that a Kashmiri youth selling warm clothes in Fatehabad was harassed by a right-wing individual, who allegedly grabbed him by the collar and forced him to chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Vande Mataram’ slogans. When the youth refused, he was reportedly threatened, choked, and subjected to humiliating treatment, the association claimed.
“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,” the J&K Students Association stated.
Reacting to the alleged incident, PDP leader Iltija Mufti posted on X, “Another video of an innocent Kashmiri man being dehumanised, humiliated & thrashed only because he refuses to chant Vande Mataram. Surprised that @cmohry @HaryanaPolice27 @DGPHaryana are allowing this to happen with such impunity. You can’t force us to chant Vande Mataram or Jai Shree Ram. Deal with it.”
According to a report in The New Indian Expressseveral Kashmiri shawl sellers and traders are allegedly facing harassment in several North Indian states, including Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Uttarakhand. Some of them were reportedly assaulted and asked to leave their workplaces.
Recently, a group of Kashmiri shawl sellers in Himachal Pradesh, many of whom have been working there for 25–30 years, alleged repeated targeting and intimidation, marking the 17th incident in recent months. Nasir Khuehami, national convenor of the J&K Students Association, called it a “growing reign of terror” and said, “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.”
Khuehami added that Kashmiri traders are being forcibly made to chant slogans and, when they refuse, are subjected to physical abuse, vandalism, looting, and destruction of their mobile phones.
The J&K Students Association has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking urgent intervention.
Meanwhile, J&K People’s Conference president and Handwara MLA, Sajad Gani Lone, termed the attacks on Kashmiri people “hate crimes” and said, “These are incidents of hate crime against civilians, fellow Indians who are trying to earn a dignified living for themselves. Additionally, they are ambassadors of integration with the rest of the country.”
Haryana, India, India
December 31, 2025, 9:18 PM IST
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