Srinagar: Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday alleged that Kashmiri shawl sellers in Himachal Pradesh's Bilaspur district are facing harassment, assault, and threats from right-wing groups.
“Despite proper documents, they're being barred from doing business and evicted. This is the third such incident, highlighting a worrying pattern of targeted violence. This othering of Kashmiris will alienate them further,” Mehbooba wrote on X.
She also urged the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, and his Himachal Pradesh counterpart, Sukhvinder Sukhu, to intervene and ensure a safe environment for these traders.
People’s Conference chief and MLA Handwara Sajad Lone has urged the Himachal Pradesh police to look into the matter. “Yet again, reports of harassment in Himachal Pradesh. Hopefully, these must be the fringe elements. In district Bilaspur, Kashmiri traders have been threatened and asked not to undertake any business activities,” Lone wrote on X.
The Jammu and Kashmir government is fully seized of this serious matter. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has taken up the issue with the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, and the CM's office is in ongoing communication with the administration in Bilaspur to address the situation, NC spokesperson Ifra Jan said.
A video of a dozen Kashmiri shawl sellers is being circulated on social media in which the sellers are alleging that they are being targeted by some groups in Himachal Pradesh and asked to return to Kashmir and desist from selling shawls in the state. Hundreds of Kashmiris sell shawls in northern Indian states during winter months.
One of the shawl sellers claimed that they were being threatened and asked to leave the state by some groups. “Our landlords are being phoned by these groups to not allow us in their houses,” he was heard saying in the video.
J&K Students Association said these traders, who have been working in the region for over 30 years, are reportedly being threatened and pressured to leave the state by certain right-wing groups. “This reflects a dangerous pattern of targeting Kashmiri shawl sellers regularly, as this is the third such incident in the state. It must be addressed immediately,” the National Spokesperson of the association, Aadil Bhat, said in a statement.
The association said the National Convenor of the Association, Nasir Khuehami, has raised the issue with the Himachal Pradesh government and spoken to the Chief Minister’s Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Ritesh Kapret.
“The Chief Minister’s Office assured that strict action would be taken against those responsible and emphasised that such incidents of intimidation and harassment would not be tolerated under any circumstances,” Khuehami said.
This is the second incident of harassment of shawl sellers of Kashmir in Himachal. Earlier, a female Block Development Council member of the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh was booked by the police for threatening and harassing the Kashmiri shawl sellers.
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