Dharamshala: Two Kashmiri cloth traders from Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir were harassed and compelled to chant Hindutva slogans in Himachal Pradesh, a state governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
According to Kashmir Media Service, the incident took place in Surjanpur village, Hamidpur district, where a woman, identified as the wife of a local sarpanch, threatened the traders and forced them to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram.’
A video of the incident, which has been widely circulated on social media, depicts the woman threatening the traders and demanding that they either leave the state or chant the slogan. She also urged other villagers to boycott the traders’ businesses. In the video, the woman is heard saying, “We are Hindus, and we have our own Hindu community selling the same things. We should buy from them. Why would someone, especially Muslims, come from elsewhere to do business here? This is our India; you go back to your Kashmir. We don’t need you here. I will request everyone not to buy anything from you. Just leave.”
The woman insisted that the Kashmiri men either chant the slogan or leave the state. The traders had traveled to Himachal Pradesh to earn their livelihood, a common practice among Kashmiri shawl and dry fruit sellers. This incident is part of a pattern of harassment faced by Kashmiri traders outside the IIOJK, raising concerns about their safety and the increasing trend of communal targeting in India.
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