Indian agencies, police & Hindutva groups targeting Kashmiris in India
Srinagar: Kashmiri businessmen and students are being targeted by Indian agencies, police personnel and Hindutva groups in various states across India.
According to Kashmir Media Service, as the investigation into the Delhi Red Fort blast incident continues, several reports, pictures, and videos have emerged from different parts of the India showing that Kashmiris, including members of the business community and students, are facing continuous harassment and strict profiling by Indian agencies, police, and Hindutva forces.
Kashmiri shawl sellers in Himachal Pradesh have stated that India’s local panchayat authorities and Hindutva groups are targeting and harassing them, forcibly checking their bags under unfounded suspicions of carrying weapons or explosives.
Shawl vendors said Hindutva locals have been stopping them, forcibly searching their belongings, and questioning them on suspicion of transporting weapons or explosive materials.
A newly surfaced video from Himachal Pradesh shows two Kashmiri shawl sellers being verbally abused by a Hindutva group. The group members can be heard questioning the Kashmiris and demanding to know who permitted them to enter the area.
The person, recording the video, can be seen threatening the vendors, warning them that if they enter the panchayat again, their goods will be confiscated. Accusing the Kashmiris, he further threatens that “some major accident may happen… These people should not be allowed to enter without police verification.”
Many shawl sellers say they are no longer allowed to move freely without prior verification from the panchayat and local police, creating an atmosphere of fear and restriction.
Several Kashmiri students in states, including New Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra, have reported aggressive verification drives, intimidating questioning, and disruptions in hostels. Some students were reportedly asked to vacate their rooms without notice, creating widespread anxiety among those studying far from home.
Observers say the ongoing crackdown on Kashmiris across India is not an isolated incident but part of a long-pending political dispute that intensified after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked Articles 370 and 35A in August 2019, stripping occupied Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and limited autonomy.
Hafsa Kanjwal, associate professor of South Asian history at Lafayette College (USA), told TRT World that the shrinking space for dissent in India is undeniable. “Many student activists involved in university protests have been arrested under terrorism charges through the UAPA,” she said. “If this is what is happening to students in India, you can only imagine what will happen to people, students, and activists in Kashmir or from Kashmir.”
She added that the institutional influence of Prime Minister Modi’s BJP over universities, courts, and the media has normalised violence. “Kashmiris have always faced significant surveillance and harassment in Delhi and other Indian cities. This is only going to increase… it will make violence against Kashmiris far more possible.”
In 2024, Kashmiri shawl vendors were also targeted by Hindutva groups and obstructed from selling their goods in Himachal Pradesh.
Civil society groups in Srinagar, while condemning the harassment of Kashmiri business community and students in Himachal Pradesh and other parts of India, said such intimidation is painful and unacceptable. They said the harassment reflects a growing Hindutva mindset and displays the communal bigotry of the BJP/RSS/VHP and Bajrang Dal.
They urged the international community to ensure immediate accountability and to resolve the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the United Nations resolutions to prevent further political injustice and strengthen protections for Kashmiris.
