SRINAGAR: J&K Students Association (JKSA) has expressed outrage after a fresh incident in which a Kashmiri shawl seller was allegedly assaulted in Himachal Pradesh, leaving him with fractures and multiple injuries.Jehangir Ahmad, who has been selling shawls in Dehra area of Kangra district for 15 years, was allegedly thrashed, threatened, abused and told to leave the state, JKSA, which has been tracking such incidents for the past eight years, said. The association said this was the 16 such incident in Himachal Pradesh this year “targeting Kashmiri traders”.“Ahmad was mercilessly thrashed by fringe elements. He has sustained fractures and multiple injuries and is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Himachal Pradesh,” Nasir Khuehami, national convenor of the association said. “We urge the Himachal CM to take immediate and decisive action. Such behaviour must not go unchecked,” Khuehami said.In a related incident, JKSA said they have taken up the matter of alleged harassment of a Kashmiri shawl seller in Kaithal, Haryana, with the chief minister’s office.Khuehami said he spoke to Rajeev Jaitly, media advisor to the Haryana CM, and requested his immediate intervention in the matter. he said Jaitly assured him that “such acts of violence and intimidation against Kashmiri shawl sellers will not be tolerated at any cost”.National Conference chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq called for immediate action and a long-term, permanent solution to such incidents. “These incidents are deeply disturbing and unacceptable. The safety and dignity of Kashmiris living outside Jammu and Kashmir must be ensured at all costs,” Sadiq said.
