Hindutva group leader defends beating of Kashmiris

NEW DELHI:  The leader of a hardline Hindu group in India on Thursday justified the beating of two street vendors from India-Occupied Kashmir by his members, saying “suspicious” Kashmiris had to be watched after Pulwama attack.

The assault on the fruit sellers by the saffron-shirted activists has been widely condemned in India.

The fruit vendors were attacked in the northern city of Lucknow on Wednesday.

But what might have been just another altercation in a series of such incidents in recent days hit the headlines when the assailants, who slapped and hit the two men with a wooden stick, posted video of it on social media.

The attackers were members of the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Dal (VHD) group and their leader was unapologetic.

“Yes, my workers beat them. After the attack on our army men with the help of Kashmiris, there is anger among the public,” the group’s president, Ambuj Nigam, told Reuters by telephone from Lucknow.

“The Kashmiris pelt stones at our soldiers and wave the Pakistani flag. Why should we tolerate that?”

He said he had ordered his 50,000 members across India to “keep an eye on Kashmiris” to check if they are engaged in “illegal acts”.

The videos show the Kashmiri men cowering on the pavement as they are slapped and beaten with a stick by two men wearing saffron-colored shirts.

One of the Kashmiris is heard wailing as he is pulled up by his shirt collar and slapped, before he runs off. A passerby intervened and managed to stop the other Kashmiri man from being beaten further.

Police said four men had been arrested for the assault and the two Kashmiris were free to sell their goods at the spot again.

“We will take action against the people responsible,” senior police official Anand Kumar told a news conference.

The central government has ordered authorities across the country to protect Kashmiris.

Lucknow is the capital of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state. It is ruled by Yogi Adityanath, a saffron-robed Hindu priest who has been criticized for anti-Muslim speeches.

The state is a major battleground for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu-nationalist ruling party in a general election due by May.

Nigam said Facebook had blocked his account after he posted video of the assault on the vendors.